Don't Take Me Seriously - Book - Page 77
ESCAPE Weekly
Nov. 13 - Nov. 19, 2009 – 16
Just take a left at life
Your dreams have ideas of their own
S
There comes a time when the
o I was hunched over my desk the
reasons to not pursue a dream outweigh
other day, back cramping from
the reasons to pursue it and, by cracky
bad posture and head aching
you whippersnappers, I call it maturity
from squinting at some fine print —
to know when that is.
and it dawned on me, yet again, that
Well, either that or lazy.
this is not my life.
The point is…life only makes
I am an outdoor person, not an editor
sense in hindsight. For the most part,
who sits in a chair and stares at papers
we’re making decisions
or a computer screen most
daily that only very rarely
of the day.
take us in the direction
So how did I get here?
we expect them to. And,
Well, it’s been an
experience shows that,
interesting road, full of
while shooting for your
unexpected turns resulting
dreams, you will most
from the choices I’ve made
likely miss the bull’s eye.
— some good, some bad,
What’s worse is that
some I don’t remember.
dreams can be fleeting.
And there’s been some
Jim Walker
I know because I’ve seen
“magic” along the way, too
Don’t Take Me Seriously
several of mine come
… though I’ve learned that
and go. Today’s “I will
serendipity is the child of
die if I don’t get that” is tomorrow’s
hard work.
“whatever” and, eventually, “What was
Now, don’t get me wrong. Being an
I thinking?”
editor for The Signal is a really good
(And that often goes for relationships,
thing. It’s just that I was supposed to be
as well.)
Jacques Cousteau — or an AmericanSo then, is there any point in
speaking facsimile, at least.
pursuing dreams?
While I tried to rub the squint
Yes. By all means, keep pursuing,
out of my eyes, I mentioned this “I’m
because, if you stop running, you’re
not supposed to be here” thing to my
going to get run over. And, just because
nearby office-mate — and he shared
you don’t end up exactly where you
how he was supposed to be something
intended isn’t necessarily bad. It might
else entirely from what he has become,
even be better.
as well. However, he is still optimistic
Consider:
that he’ll get there eventually, or that
Though you might believe there was
life will show him something better
some “outside influence” in his eventual
than his original plan.
choice of careers, Jesus Christ started
But for me, I think the Calypso has
out as a carpenter.
sailed (though I did come close to my
Darwin was supposed to be a doctor.
oceanic dreams once).
George Washington was a surveyor
While I’m still fully capable of
in his early years.
breathing underwater via my manSocrates started out as a sculptor.
gills and wrestling great white sharks
And, Leonardo da Vinci did, you
(you know, if I get in shape), I really
have lost any interest in spending
know, everything.
months at sea with bearded French
But, on the other hand, you’ve got to
guys in Speedos.
be careful about the choices you make.
Metro Creative Connection
“Forward, men. We must survey the far shore on Christmas morning.” United States history might
have been completely different if George Washington would have kept his first job — surveyor.
For example:
John Wilkes Booth was a pretty
good actor. He just got mixed up with
the wrong crowd.
Typhoid Mary was a pretty good
cook. She just wouldn’t stop.
Benedict Arnold was a pretty good
general. He just got lazy at loyalty.
And Hitler wanted to be an artist.
He just wasn’t very good at it. (But if
he’d have stuck with it, 70 million or so
people would have been way-better off.
And that, my friends, would be some
powerful art.)
You should definitely follow your
passions, work hard and keep at it. But
know when to change the game plan.
Don’t hold your focus too narrow, and
don’t spend too much time in unhappy
frustration, banging your head against
block walls in your way. If you can’t
turn right, turn left.
But whatever choices you make,
make positive ones. Keep things
between the lines.
Oh, and enjoy the ride. Since you
don’t really know where you will end
up, the journey is the real goal.
Now, I’m having fun on this
journey, but I know there is still
more magic out there for me. The
new dreams are waving at me from
the horizon.
But their arms may be getting tired.
And I think I need to get my eyes up
off the print to see ’em.
