Dreams v/s deadlines
Dreams v/s deadlines
Reality sucks
Ever been in the dilemma of dreams vs deadlines? The constant struggle of “I want to do something meaningful, but first I have to finish this maths assignment.” Reality hits everyone like a brick just when you feel like the storm might settle and you’ll finally get time to spend on something worthwhile. But that’s not the case, is it? For every deadline you drag yourself to meet, there’s another one waiting for you at the finish line. In fact, before you know it, the finish line is just a ruse to keep you in the race—just so you don’t notice you’re running in circles.
Illusions of balance
Balance, in pretty much anything, is easier said than done. Yet, I choose to talk about it—not because I have the magic potion and the answers to it, but because I’m in the same boat as you. I think hearing from someone who’s trying to stay afloat as much as you are is, in a sense, comforting. Most often, we all want to seem put together, to create an illusion of being ahead—for ourselves and others. But reality, like I said, is a brick aimed right at your head, knocking the dreams and illusions out from time to time, leaving you flustered, overwhelmed, and just a bit dizzy.
We’ve all been in a position where we must choose between what we want to do and what we need to. And without fail, most of us put our dreams in the backseat and let obligations and timelines get to our heads. Now, at this point, if you’re cursing yourself for being guilty of this, let me just add that many others—including myself—are in that list of convicted felons. Each deadline pushes your dreams further and further away, and before you know it, you’re living bound to a clock with not enough hours in it. Twenty-four hours is too little to get anything done, and you break your head over how to juggle everything, all the time, all at once. And when drowning in deadlines, ideals of the life you want to live get archived in a dusty old corner known as the back of the mind.
Dreams make the difference
It is difficult. It is exhausting, tiring, and a lot of work to balance many things at once. But somewhere in the mix, you need to consciously pull your dreams back into it. And no, it’s not an unnecessary addition. Feeling lost, burnt out, and frustrated aren’t merely symptoms of a deadline-ridden person, but symptoms of one who’s pitted their dreams against their life. Dreams are a driving force—something to work toward, struggle for, and something to make all the traumatic late-night cramming sessions and 13-hour workdays seem just a bit more tolerable. “Life gets in the way” is the worst disease one can suffer from, because it sucks out the “worth it” factor from your life, making it a constant sink-or-swim struggle.
The truth? Dreams don’t need to be big, over-the-top, or long-term. They just need to take you somewhere in life. Dreaming big, unfortunately, cannot make you immune to the curveballs life throws at you and the reality you have to face. But if your work—and each deadline you achieve—isn’t pointed toward the probably vague but surely existent dreams you dream, then perhaps you’re running the wrong circles.
Conclusion
I started this article with dreams vs deadlines, but I’m full of contradictions, so I’d like to correct myself. Deadlines and struggles accumulate to push you closer to your aspirations, and instead of being like me and putting them versus each other, I’d recommend you make deadlines and dreams complementary to each other.
If you want to do something meaningful, struggle towards it. If you want to make a change, work night and day to make it happen. And there’s nothing wrong with breaking your head—and some sweat—over a deadline, as long as it’s part of the bigger picture that includes your goals and dreams.
Your dreams are your drive. And to get through the not-so-great parts of reality, they’re your lifeline. Use your dreams to keep you afloat in a sea of people drowning in deadlines. Because honestly? Everyone needs something to hold onto when life happens.
