By Panagiotis Moysoglou,
Let us remember our last dream or hope or, God forbid, goal in the high speeds and high stakes ride that is ‘life’. In this limitless play of endless twists, turns, known and sudden plot points all verging and cumulating into one’s legacy and years spent on this earth. No matter how stressed we get or how hopeless everything seems, either on our own or as a species, we always push on to great heights. This ‘fuel’ and this ‘energy’ can be attributed to the meaning and the power that goals and dream have on the human body and mind. A tireless and imaginary friend that keeps our ‘lifeboat’ from capsizing in the dip light waters below. Although their meaning and their absolute need is often forgotten and not discussed among familiar or friendly circles, as we are all at one time or another consumed by other factors. Is, in the end, a dream and its sequence of goals that important to us, as humans? Join me and let’s see.
The first point of interest shall lay in an often overlooked yet highly important distinction between the definition of a ‘goal’ and ‘dream’. In the latter case, a dream is made as our mind and our imagination conjures from parts of our life, of our needs, our virtues and the people we admire into something that is felt, yet cannot be touched. It has no theoretical limit and no time constraint nor an age requirement. It is that, which keeps us up at night. In the case of the former, a goal can be a stark contrast to a dream. It can either be short or long term, a concrete action or plan. It is the result of both, the mind and the muscle, both of the imagination and the body that wields it. As it is evident, multiple goals, no matter their length, end up leading to a dream, to that vital ‘lifeline’ in this sea of chaos and uncertainty that is life. In the end, while distinct from one another, the same principle can apply. They are both a means to an end, in which we as humans use to find purpose in life.
It is exactly this point that ‘desires’ further elaboration. Philosophy and logotherapy often highlight the fact that humans’ chief motivational force is to find meaning and achievement in life. It is no wonder that from a young age, education teaches and preaches the compulsory place dreams and goals in life. They both serve to bridge the gap between action and reaction and are the ‘why’ that secretly or obviously powers and motivates the way forward. Goals and the dream in which they lead to are the main apparatus of the human machine. No one has gotten far with ambition, passion or a deep and unchecked want for that, which is yet attainable. A dream is a principal factor behind a personal choice or even a social contract. It is considered as the flow of goals that feeds the feeling of growth and improvement in a person’s life. In short, dreams and goals have always been the human way of measuring the present and future conditions and desires of one’s very life, of one’s very purpose.
Then, some of us may say, as the power and the necessity of dreams is mandatory to our way of life, it is only logical to assume that it will be easy to integrate them into our lives. Yet, the devastating reality can be a bit different. It has become the norm nowadays to focus on the routine, the burden and the mundane of everyday life in lieu of dreams and goals. For even in the past, in the present and in the future we, as humans, can either be content or dreaming or, in most cases, be too stressed and tired to even think or feel anything, not even contentment. Daily life and routine take hold, especially as humans age, and the goals and dreams can be absent or even ‘beaten’ and forgotten. As such, every one of us can fail to find meaning in our lives. Our minds, our actions can be taken up with mundane or even mandatory tasks that we cannot just ‘dream’. This ‘meaning in the worst of Situations’ as Viktor Frankl once said is lost. For us, humans, though it isn’t a fault of our own, can be adept to forget the reason we started to dream or even the way to goals we set long ago.
In the end it is up to us to grind the sands of time to rightfully achieve our dreams and goals. If. In the end it is up to us to make way in our lives for the ideas that matter. It is important to remember that having a routine and tight schedule are noteworthy and commendable pursuits. It is in those tiring times, however, that the light of a target and a dream long forgotten and left to rot, shall rise again to its former glory. Because, if we do not do it…Then who will..?
References
- The Important Difference Between Goals and Dreams. CP. Available here
- Sources of meaning in life among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study. Wiley Online Library. Available here
- Dreams vs Goals: The Differences that Matter. University of the People. Available here
