Running the Race or Chasing the Dream...

"You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith." ~ Mary Manin Morrissey~


So it's been a while since I posted anything new on here...things have been crazy to say the least! I was just reading Here's Your Life, Would You Like Paper or Plastic? when I realized that it is time to write a sequel...

I must start by restating the question that defined that original post: WHAT IS YOUR DREAM AND ARE YOU DOING WHAT IT TAKES TO ATTAIN IT? It just occurred to me that many of us may not even know what our dream is until it shows up on our front door step...that is, if you are lucky enough for it to just show up. More often than not, if you don't know what your dream is, then you will likely never find it, or have it find you.

I stated my dream in that original post but here is a tidbit of it in case you didn’t go back and read it: I’m a musician…I want to get paid to play…music!  What could possibly be better than making a living doing what you love to do, when you want to do it, because you want to do it?  It’s hard to know where to even begin the path to achieving what you want most but I think that by simply knowing exactly what you want, you will attract it…or at the very least find yourself on the right track to getting it.

That happened to me!  I have known for 2 years now that I wanted my career to be in music.  I initially wanted to teach high school and that is what I strived for.  Gradually I began to feel like I belonged in an ensemble rather than in front of one so in November (2011) I changed my major from Music Ed. to Music.  Once I did that, it seems that the pieces just fell into place…

One Wednesday at my private lesson, my teacher said that he had been contacted by the local Marine recruiter to see if he had any students (clarinet students) that would be interested in joining the Marine Corps as a musician.  I had been considering the military as a career option for a while (although not very seriously considering it) but it had been on the back burner so I could finish school.  But when my teacher asked if I would be interested in meeting with the recruiter, I said YES!  A meeting was set and a week later, we (my teacher and I) met with the recruiter.

I’ll spare you the details of our meeting (and the one’s that followed over the next couple of weeks) but just know that I did my research, asked my questions (many of them), and thought long and hard before making my decision.  After about 3 weeks, I decided that this was the opportunity I had been waiting for, or better yet, had been waiting for me.  I believe that everything happens for a reason and I know what opportunity looks like so I decided to go for it.

I received about 15 pages of technical exercises (stuff that is used to determine how well (or badly) an instrumentalist can play) and instructions on what to have prepared for the first “round” of my audition.  I practiced those exercises nearly every day for about 2 weeks so I could get everything just right. 

I did the first part of my audition on January 20^th and passed with flying colors :)  After that, my live audition was scheduled for February 3^rd…and I also passed that.  I was a little bit nervous for it but I felt prepared and knew that if I just played my best then things would turn out the way they were meant to turn out.  Well, I passed!  I got a high enough score that I even get to choose where I am stationed!!

So, enough about that for a minute, the whole point of this is to prove that no matter your circumstances, your commitments, or your doubts, if you KNOW what you want, you CAN get it.  Put aside all the “what if’s” and “but’s” and just go for it.  The only failure is in not trying.  Had I let my doubts get in the way and not auditioned, I still wouldn’t know what to do with my life and I would have passed up what is probably the best opportunity I have ever been presented with. 

How many times have you passed up what may have been THE opportunity of a lifetime because you THOUGHT you couldn’t do it?  You can’t go through life thinking that you can’t do something, you have to KNOW that you CAN do it! 

I know that the road ahead is going to be tough and that I will want to throw in the towel more than once, but my success will come by holding on to the towel…and probably using it to wipe sweat off my face a few times :)  

So, to sound like a broken record, are YOU doing what needs to be done to attain what you want in YOUR life??  It‘s a simple question really.  Are you just running through your life with no clear goal to run to or are you chasing your dream all the way to the finish line??  I can now say that I am 100% chasing my dream…actually, I have caught it and am pushing full steam ahead to the finish line.  My only wish is that more people can step outside of themselves, be a little uncomfortable, and reap the rewards for going after whatever it is that they desire!

Thanks for reading, I know it was a doozy :)