What is the "American Dream?' To most people, it is to work hard at a job, earn good money, and to live a good/comfortable life. While that is good for most, that is not the case for all. I know the latter applies to me. Since high school, all I have heard was go to college, and do good so you can land a great job. Doing that time, I believed that was the way to go. I really thought that was the way to get the "American Dream." All that changed one faithful day in the summer of 2012.
During this time, I was in the home stretch of my college career. I didn't know what job/career I wanted after school. I had an idea of what I eventually wanted to do. All of that changed one summer day. I was on the way to class when a random idea came into my mind; "Start a t-shirt brand" With that one thought, the name and concept of the brand came flowing in my mind. I had never wanted to go into doing t-shirts. Hell the idea of starting my own business never accord to me, but in that one instance, I knew what I wanted to do.
Everyone I talked to about the idea, from friends to family, believed my idea was good and I could make something of it. As my last semester of college was coming to an end, I has getting ready to graduate. With the end of college, I was heading into "The Real World." even though it was sink or swim time, I wasn't worried or afraid. I didn't know how, but I knew everything would work out. I was ready to turn my idea into a reality.
After school, I began to design. I worked on this project like my life depend on it. In order to begin that process, I needed money which meant I needed a job. I thought since I had a degree, finding a job would be easy. Boy was I wrong. It seemed like everywhere I applied for a job I would get rejected from. It came to a point where I put my focus only on finding a job that I did not work on my idea.
After what seemed like forever and a day, I finally landed a job. It was not the best of jobs, but it was something to get my bills paid, and for me to put some money aside. I planned on working there while looking for a better job, and work on my idea.. As time went on, I continued working there at that job while more ideas came to mind. Occasionally, I would work on my idea of the t-shirt brand, but it seemed like the "Real Word" had other plans. Between work, being an "Adult," and trying not to lose myself in this world, somewhere down that path I had forsaken my dream. It seemed like I was living the "American Dream", but not my own.
Time flew by and what I thought would be a job that would last only a few months has turn into a 3 year stay. During these 3 years, I have worked my ass of for what? No raise/promotion and not even a mention of one from the higher ups. All of my current and former coworkers would tell me I should have been a manager by now, but I guess the higher ups don't see it like that. I just fed up with that job. I am sick of feeling like my hard work doesn't mean shit. I am tired of not getting paid what I think I should be. I am sick of feeling like a caged bird. In a nut shell, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.
I asked god/universe for guidance/direction because I am nowhere near where I feel like I should be at in this journey called life. There's an old saying that says be careful for what you ask for because you just might get it. Recently, I bumped into one of my old teachers from high school. After catching up, he asked t-shirt brand I told him about a few years ago. After I told him what was going on with it, he gave me some encouraging words, and told me to get back working on it. A few days later, I spoke to one of my best friends and he told me he had quit his job. He had been talking about this for a while, but he finally pulled the trigger. When I asked him what made him finally go through with it, his reasons weren't to far from mines. He didn't like his jib, he wanted to do more, and he wanted to work on his dream. Even though he had a good job that paid way more than what I make, I have never seen him happier and more at ease than he is now.
After those events, the fire has been relit inside of me. That was the kick in the ass I needed, I am more focused than ever to make my dreams a reality. I know it won't be an easy task, but nothing that is worth anything comes easy. I believe I had to be put in this situation to show me what will happen if I don't follow my dreams now. I going to stuck at a dead end job. I will eventually become complacent like I see many of my coworkers are. My dreams will die, I would live in the world of "What if," and I won't truly be happy or free. Now it is up to me to make the right steps/moves and put in some hard work . Eventually all of my dreams/goal will come true, and I will be a better person from going though tis experience. Instead of living the "American Dream," I going start living my dream/goals/passions and bringing forth my thoughts into reality. That first step begins now, so lets see what this journey takes me.
No comments:
Post a Comment