On Life Goals

It has been an occasional habit of mine to jot down my dreams and aspirations – trivial and fundamental alike – whenever I feel like rekindling that visionary in me. I didn’t start with a pen and a piece of paper; the onset of trying to document my life goals started in virtual space when the strain of academics would command some distraction. Oftentimes, coming up with a dream journal would serve a bipartite purpose: stress-busting and big-picture thinking. A hefty undergraduate academic load can honestly take your mind off the end to which your going to college is a means. It’s rather ironic, really. You know you’re in college but you forget the passion that drove you to the institution in the first place. Pressure that’s uncalled for can totally wreak havoc on dreams and ambitions. You begin to wonder if you can make it to the end of the tunnel.

I’ve been through that phase; or is just me? But writing down both far-fetched and frivolous life goals made and make for a handy coping mechanism. Every once in a while, I get these light bulb moments or come across some read on the most random stuff and get enticed to try it sometime. There’s freedom in hoping that someday you’d actually get all those ideas to fruition. After some time, I’d be so absorbed with other things that I’d forget about having written down dreams. Then I’d discover some interesting place around town or in the globe and dream about waking up there the following day. Or I would stumble upon some unheard-of book that would spark my imagination. Sometimes, I’d find myself striking a conversation with a stranger that would leave me wanting more encounters. That’s when I would update my life goals. Every now and then, it gets updated and the list just keeps getting longer and longer. It didn’t cross my mind – until now – that all those dreams might not actually be met. But I never really cared. Nor shall I give in to defeat of the possible un-realizations. As a child, I was already a big dreamer who would reach for the farthest and brightest star if I could. I would just always shrug off the impossibilities even though I was occasionally met with dissuasions from people – even those dearest to me. But growing up and discovering faith and my spiritual core permitted me to dream some more. Life goals - whether trifling wishes, fancy aspirations, or long-term visions - are like seeds of dreams planted in a heart that when nurtured, grows and bear fruits of actualization.

Just recently, office hours had been relatively dragging. I would remedy boredom by scoring valuable random pieces of information in the World Wide Web. And all those browsing and surfing just actually fed me with a lot of new stuff that I could possibly (or impossibly, for the naysayer) venture into. And so, I created one more of the many life goals sketch pads I have – only now, I added another category: dream destinations for missions. While busy jotting down my material wish list, it suddenly hit me that this whole diversionary tactic of “life-goal-ing” is actually working. There had been a lot on my previous lists that got checks and a lot more being realized as I write this entry. Ergo, my efforts had not been in vain after all. And this just made me realize how I was receiving blessing after blessing by just keeping faith and successfully paying no heed to negativities. J

My vision for life drives my purpose. My life goals do not necessarily dictate my whole life – as I vow not to spend too much time just dreaming about them – but they set the direction of my sail. It’s crazy-fun how it all turns out. You just forget about the limits amidst the limiting circumstances that surround you and the negative people that hound you. Every now and then, I would drop some out of the blue remarks to my ‘rents like reconsidering law school and trying out some other career path and it would just devastate them – although my dad tries his hardest to keep his cool even in his disappointment. Inside, I would flare up and try to vindicate myself but then I’d just laugh it off eventually. We needn’t argue. They would often try to smooth-talk me out of the craziest and sometimes far-fetched aspirations with the “jack of all trades, master of none” one-liner. But they know I’d never be dissuaded and I know that they’d always be there to support all the way despite the objections and long sermons. I’m grateful beyond words for my two God-given pillars that never failed to hold up to my past unbearable self and to buoy up the transformation faith and grace has done in my life.

My life goals have never been just my own. They were born neither in my head nor in my heart but instilled in me by the freedom that grace rendered on the Cross. In the end, it will all and still boil down to that. J

P.S.

If a good soul out there (by any stroke of destiny and since its nearing the holidays) wants to grant some of my life goals, I’d be delighted to divulge to you my wish list. HAHA :D