Dream

To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are
Tim Menchen

We all have lofty ideas of who we would like to be. We want to have a body free of aches and pains, and in perfect health. We want to be stunningly beautiful. We want to be rich and wildly successful at what we do. We want to be someone who is loved by everyone who sees them. We want to be calm and unruffled, and able to deal quickly and effectively with any problem or challenge that comes up. But of course none of this is going to happen anytime soon for most of us.

We must appreciate the person we are, right now. All of us have weaknesses; that is part of being human, and someone who was perfect would not be very attractive to the rest of us. We all struggle with aches and pains, a body which is less than stunningly beautiful or in perfect health. We all have trouble coping with conflict sometimes. We all have to deal with people who don't approve of us or our ideas. But all these problems make us much more interesting people, and much more involved with life and the world around us. They make us much more alive.

To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are. Learn to appreciate who you are right now, a person whose challenges give them plenty of opportunities to learn and grow. It is only if we focus on what we can do right now, to overcome those challenges, that we will move towards creating the person we want to be. It is important to know what kind of person you would like to become, for sure; but it is essential to love, and utilize, all of who you are in the moment, including all your weaknesses. Because it is your challenges and weaknesses that point the way towards being that person you want to be, and motivate your growth towards it. Don't waste the person you are by trying to ignore your weaknesses and challenges, or allow them to discourage you; learn how to use them to help you get towards where you need to go.