When You Chase Your Dreams You Become, Statistically, A Societal Outcast.
But just because a concept is foreign to most does not imply the pursuit is in vain.
“Most don’t chase their dreams.
They don’t answer the calling that is burning inside their soul.
They do what’s realistic. Most convenient. Easiest.
If you chase your dreams you will be misunderstood and hard to relate to.
It’s because the act of doing so is foreign to most.”
-Ray Zingler on X
I grew up about like any other kid living in a suburban town of a big city in the south.
Friday night lights on Fridays.
Church on Sundays.
And then just being a kid Monday to Sunday.
In high school and college, I had my fun.
Maybe a little too much fun.
But I had fun.
However, something shifted in my early 20s.
I turned 21, so I was now “legal” to party, but I noticed I had little desire to do that anymore.
My friends were all pumped up about pregaming, going to bars and clubs, and while I went sometimes, it wasn’t my lane.
I can distinctly remember, I enjoyed a productive Saturday far more than I enjoyed a few hours of “fun” on Friday nights.
My “best weekends” were when I hit the rack early on Fridays and got to the coffee shop at 4:30am on Saturdays (before they opened at 5).
I had a level of fulfillment working on my personal and professional development sipping great coffee 2 hours before sunrise that “going out at 11” couldn’t touch with an 11’ pole.
I’d work 4:30a to 10a on Saturday mornings and it felt like 15 minutes.
I was working on my passion, which didn’t make it feel like work at all.
And then one day I asked myself, “Why aren’t other people like this? They have no idea what they’re missing out on.”
It was then I realized that most aren’t chasing their passions.
They are living for the weekends because they chose the “more realistic” route.
And I think about how miserable that would be.
Spending hours of time, doing unmeaningful work that draws from your cup more than it fills it only so you can look forward to filling your cup with alcohol on the weekend?
What a shitty deal.
But I understood why.
And I also came to understand why I became an outcast with my “friends”, in some cases, even downtrodden.
It wasn’t because I or they were any better or worse than each other.
It was because I was unrelatable.
Recognize, if you follow your passions, by pure statistics, you will be a societal outcast.
But the pursuit of your passions will never be in vain.