Letting go of your dreams?

[DJ_DEnM]

So what dreams have you, the Escapist community, given up on? Either because it was unrealistic, hard, anything.

I just gave up on being a DJ. No name change though so, sticking with this for now.
It wasn't fun anymore, so yeah.

Your turn

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Traveling to Japan. I suck at the language and, fear flying. I am clinging to my dream of visiting the UK but I fear flying...I'm also still clinging to the hope that I'll be some manner of actor or, voice actor. If I'm not mistaken, Rodney Dangerfield got into comedy and whatnot later on in life.

 

[Kae]

I gave up my dream of resurrecting dragons by extracting they're DNA Jurassic Park style and cloning them when my teacher explained to me that dragons never existed and that Jurassic Park was Science Fiction and never actually happened, and I was 15 when this happened -_-
[sub]I must be the stupidest person in the world...[/sub]

 

[Korolev]

I never really had to give up on any of my dreams, because I always tended to keep them realistic. When I was younger, I did want to go into space, but when I learned what would be required of me to do that (fitness, flight experience, probable military experience), I quickly decided that it was unlikely for me to ever become an Astronaut/Cosmonaut.

Ever since I was about 10 my dream was to become a scientist. I've done that, so I'm happy. My goal was always to do the best I could in science, and as long as I could do that, I would be happy. Now, I've decided to study to become a doctor as well (job security + it's always nice to apply the research to patients). It will mean another 4 to 6 years of my life will be spent studying, but if that's the price, then so be it. I'm just lucky I was born in a family that is entirely supportive of my goals and have helped me to achieve them. My family is not rich by any means, but since I saved some money, and since I've always studied hard, they are willing to support me through my studies. I'm lucky. Privileged, in fact. Not everyone has the same opportunities I've had. My nation's government, the Australia Federal Government, will also foot the bill for my studies (in return I have to work for them for the same amount of time I spent studying). I've managed to achieve my dream, and I have the opportunity to pursue another dream - helping people as best I can.

I kept my dreams high, but realistic. I never wanted to become a star athlete or a rock-star. Such dreams are cool, but unrealistic. There are hundreds of millions of kids who want to be world-famous rock-stars. There's only room for a handful. Odds are, you are not going to succeed, unless you are extremely, EXTREMELY talented in a VERY specific way. As for becoming a doctor, or a scientist, or a stock-broker or a pilot - those dreams might require some luck (for instance, it's doubtful you'd be able to become a scientist if you are living in Somalia, because that nation has no infrastructure or government), but many people in the developed world CAN succeed if they simply work very, very hard. Not everyone has the opportunity, but quite a few of us do, and I'm betting a lot of people reading this forum could become scientists if they wanted to. If I could do it, I'm pretty sure anyone who doesn't have a caved in skull could do it.

So I've never had to give up on any of my serious dreams. I'm lucky. There's no other way to put it. I was born with a supportive family in a good country. I did nothing to earn that. But I'll be damned if I don't make the absolute best use of the resources I've been randomly allocated. I can't justify being in a privileged position, unless I use it to help as many people as humanly possible.

 

[chaosyoshimage]

I gave up on wanting to be an archaeologist as a kid when I realized I would spend to much time away from my family. This is a really weird reason for a kid to drop a dream though, you'd think that would happen when I got older, but nope, don't really care about that sort of thing right now. Plus, I never wanted to be an archaeologist because of Indiana Jones (I didn't see them until Crystal Skull was about to come out) or anything. Nope, it's because before that I wanted to be a Paranormal Investigator, and then came to realize that's not really a real career.

I mean, I guess it is in the same way that "reality TV star" is. I don't think I'd ever give up my dreams today though, I've had them for years now, and if I couldn't follow them, I'd lose what little reason I have to go on as it is...

 

[luckycharms8282]

Ive had to give up on my dream of being a ripped hunksicle. Im as skinny as a twig. I cant even work out because Ive had three collapsed lungs that have left me weak and fragile.

Feels bad man

 

[Kuranesno7]

being a superhero because I realized I wouldn'nt be able to actually help people and kick ass at the same time, that I'd probably get someone killed in a hostage situation, that most of societies problems cannot be solved by beating up desperate criminals (why haven't they made a superhero comic about dudes kicking the shit out of white collar criminals anyway?), and that even to do so would technically make me a fascist.

Oh, and that I'd probably get shot walking anywhere in a costume i a crime-ridden area.

 

[Captain_Fantastic]

my dreams are a basic destination. BE HAPPY!!!!

there are many millions of paths to this and i have all the time in my life to reach them

i have forgotten some paths i was happy with because they were nice at the beginning, then they became impossible

 

[Smooth Operator]

My dreams of becoming a dragon, apparently it's quite a hassle and I'm not really willing to put that much time into it.

 

[nukethetuna]

Depends on your definition of dream. Usually when I start down a career or hobby path, I find it's not as entertaining as I'd hoped, and abandon it. I've yet to abandon my dream of becoming the kind of person I want to be, though, which seems more important.

 

[Astoria]

I've given up on being a tattoo artist. I just don't think I'll ever get my art skills up to a good enough level.

 

[Trivea]

Graduating college. It was never really my thing, anyway. I mean, it's not that I don't like learning, but I put up with enough bullshit through high school and prereqs look like pretty much more of the same. I'm doing pretty good on my dream of becoming an actress, though, since I'm going to work with a talent agency in Georgia once I move, but that's just because I have the "succeed or die trying" mentality for this.

 

[Sacman]

I don't have any dreams so I've got nothing to give up... it's a win win situation...<.<

 

[Whateveralot]

Traveling to Japan. I suck at the language and, fear flying. I am clinging to my dream of visiting the UK but I fear flying...

How severe is this? Because if it's not the "panic so much I stop breathing"-kind of fear of flying, you should seriously try out flying once, just a short flight where you can go back by train or something so that you're not stuck with having to fly back if it didn't end up well.

But don't if you really are dreading the thought. If you are, it won't end up well. If you accept the fact that you are going to fly, and looking forward to defeating your (very common) phobia, you will succeed.

 

[manaman]

I gave up retiring early. I really was hoping to settle into a comfortable life of semi retirement somewhere in the next 15 years, but that isn't going to happen.

Still life isn't all bad, and I can probably still swing a few years off and an expensive sports car when my midlife crisis hits.

 

[Chalacachaca]

I gave up the dream of being a Dungeon Master or actually playing a pen & paper RPG, and I won't do it online.