What's stopping you from accomplishing your dreams?

[Screen.Thief]

I'm sure many of you can remember the day you dedicated your life to something, or made such an impactful decision in your life that was supposed to change it forever. And as time moved on; things changed, ideas shifted, you met someone who opened your mind to other experiences, possibilities, etc. where did it all change? Do you still have those dreams? What is stopping you from being where you once strived to be? I've been stuck in a sort of limbo with finishing school and not being able to find meaningful work, and I genuinely feel like it's all been for nothing. Did the dreams I had years ago push me forward only to be false to begin with...? Do any of you feel this way, or have felt this way before?

 

[mydadiscar]

Mental illness has held me back from everything. I only have one dream left, but who knows if I will be able to accomplish it.

 

[IlluminatiPirate]

What was your dream? For a long time for me I am confused and still don't know what my place is in the world but I feel like I'm on the right path of making something for myself

 

[DeathToMicroWaves]

only having 3 brain cells because I ate a tide pod

 

[InsufferableCynic]

I have been working on a game for ages, but the sheer scope of the project and other setbacks has really beaten me to the point where I don't feel motivated much anymore

 

[CahCaw]

Mere time. It is not a question of if I will achieve my dreams, only when. Besides, if I end up not achieving my goals because my time will have fallen short, who cares. Being decimated to mere rotten flesh and bones sounds like a vibe.

 

[スーパー Meidoメイド]

Reality.

 

[Outer Heaven]

The state of Israel

 

[Aral of Xiaohe]

Did the dreams I had years ago push me forward only to be false to begin with...? Do any of you feel this way, or have felt this way before?

I've had this, as well. "Maybe this wasn't a dream after all", I would think. But then that would mean none of my dreams have ever been dreams, just pure escapism with no real will to change. I may just be the queen of escapists who spends her life running away.

It's particularly tough right now because I had been rebuilding my trust in myself and it was smashed back to square one not too long ago. Basically went back into "you're delusional and your whole life is delusion topped by another delusion" mode and I have no idea when I'll be back to where I had stopped. But this time, I just want to at least imagine that I can do it, or that it's possible. I don't want anyone to question "why do you want to do this" or "how are you going to", I just want someone to believe in me, because I am massively afraid of failing (especially repeatedly, as I've failed repeatedly in the past at things that meant a lot to me) and of overall never being good enough or skilled enough or smart enough or just not deserving what I truly want. I just want to be able to achieve it, even if there is no one to see it, just for myself, to prove myself that I am worthy, that I am strong, that I am good, not corrupted, not crazy, not delusional, that I am exactly what I "know" myself to be deep down, but that I've been told and shown so many times I wasn't. A tree that falls into the forest does make a sound, but that doesn't mean that anyone will hear it. Still doesn't change that it makes a sound.

 

[Andy Kaufman]

Time I guess.
I want to travel the world and then build/buy a remote house and found a family.
Saving up for that just takes time and also these are more long term processes than just a thing you just achieve one day like winning a certain prize or so.
But time isn't really stopping me, it's more of a progress bar, sometimes moving faster, sometimes slower on my goals.
Less ambiguous:
Corona prevented me from going to Japan for the last 2 years because that island is still under lockdown. I am very optimistic it will happen next year though, unless WWIII breaks out or the chinese come up with a new variant in their institure of virology- uh I mean wet markets.

 

[Legacy]

My wife and I both grew up in poverty but have been able to graduate college, get successful jobs, buy a house, take in her brothers, and now start having kids of our own. Both of our dreams were to be financially stable in the first place with paying off debt and getting a house being an extra priority. We paid for our wedding ourselves as well. I've been successful in trading crypto currency as well which has been extremely helpful. We're a land owning, educated family now which is a dream I've been fortunate enough to realize.
I dreamed of quitting my job but stayed at it for years because of it helping so much with realizing everything else. I was able to quit for a fully WFH position that is much less stressful, but my biggest dream is to be able to retire before I'm 35 so I can focus on developing my own projects.
I want to learn Japanese and visit Japan, but between all the kids and cats and prepping for the baby and house maintenance and full time it's hard to have a lot of energy for it. My genuine feeling is that being obligated to hold a full time job holds me back the most, even if it ha provided so much so far

 

[Vaporeon]

A lot of my dreams have changed, or I've realized I'm in love with the result, and not really the process. It seemed really cool to be a famous author, but I don't particularly enjoy writing. Travelling the world sounds amazing, but after even a short vacation, I just want to curl up at home. I wanted to be rich, but I make more than enough money now and don't want to put in extra hours or take a lot of risk.

I don't really know what my dreams are anymore other than I'd like to make some kind of impression, contribute to something I believe in. There are a lot of things I want to learn and hobbies to try and I'm focusing on doing those things, instead of a specific result. I would like to be happy and fulfilled, and research into it led me to the idea that focusing on enjoying the process rather than a specific result helps with that.

 

[Pangolin]

Things outside of my control ended up derailing my entire life to where I now harbor resentment at the lot I've been dealt in life, but strangely my lot in life isn't bad by any measure. I am bored and frustrated that I didn't get the life I wanted and I am effectively blocked from it.

 

[Digital Caveman]

Nothing has stopped me from accomplishing my dreams, they have only been delayed by my own stupidity.

 

[Collision]

CIA, the Bilderberg Group, Zeta Reticulons, and various other agents of the Demiurge and his Archons.

 

[Remember_Summer_Days]

My dream is to be a cute anime girl.

My other dream is to love God with all my heart and mind. What's stopping me? Pride pride pride

 

[Remember_Summer_Days]

I've had this, as well. "Maybe this wasn't a dream after all", I would think. But then that would mean none of my dreams have ever been dreams, just pure escapism with no real will to change. I may just be the queen of escapists who spends her life running away.

It's particularly tough right now because I had been rebuilding my trust in myself and it was smashed back to square one not too long ago. Went back into "you're delusional and your whole life is delusion topped by another delusion" mode and I have no idea when I'll be back to where I had stopped. But this time, I just want to at least imagine that I can do it, or that it's possible. I don't want anyone to question "why do you want to do this" or "how are you going to", I just want someone to believe in me, because I am massively afraid of failing (especially repeatedly, as I've failed repeatedly in the past at things that meant a lot to me) and of overall never being good enough or skilled enough or smart enough or just not deserving what I truly want. I just want to be able to achieve it, even if there is no one to see it, just for myself, to prove myself that I am worthy, that I am strong, that I am good, not corrupted, not crazy, not delusional, that I am exactly what I "know" myself to be deep down, but that I've been told and shown so many times I wasn't. A tree that falls into the forest does make a sound, but that doesn't mean that anyone will hear it. Still doesn't change that it makes a sound.

Felt. I used to be like that in the not-so-distant past, and I realized that my dreams were only Christmas add-tier romantic escapism, that I couldn't change because I was afraid I would find out my dreams, if they ever came true, would feel as meaningless as the void of my ego. I was, still somewhat am, a slave to my dreams, addicted to escapism.

Then I gave up on believing in myself, in trying to prove that I was some sort of 'something more' remarkable creature and not a forgettable normie. I accepted I wasn't worthy and then I couldn't believe in myself anymore. I gave up.

When I stopped depending on and believing in myself, I started feeling much happier, when I didn't have to prove anything, not even to myself, I made so much progress in the things I wanted to do. I was no longer a slave to my dreams, and I've never felt so free in my life.

 

[koreatis]

I believe that pride is the biggest obstacle from moving forward in my view. I mean I see myself as a person who should save the world. I don't want to do the boring and mundane stuff, instead I imagine myself as as a saviour in different topics. I would like to be in the moment where I know biology, chemistry, physics, math and programming so I will be able to incorporate my utopian vision for the future. Other issue is that I am so curious and I fall in love easily with everything, often it is very annoying because I can't focus deeply on one thing. Right know I am on the path to learn some low level and system programming but of course I know that I have to literally eat, sleep and breathe the code and also I have to complete the newbie path. I wish I had the knowledge right know without the struggle path and escape the beginner journey which might shows me that I am not that speciall and actually I am dumb and I can't learn anything anymore. On the other hand, my vision about being the saviour causes stress and anxiety that I am just a normie and I have to deal with it for the rest of my life. The only way to escape this destructive thought is to free myself and doing things without any assumptions. I mean I don't want to learn these stuffs to get a job. No, I want to have knowledge and do things that might help the world.

 

[manpaint]

I have been working on a game for ages, but the sheer scope of the project and other setbacks has really beaten me to the point where I don't feel motivated much anymore

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. After coming to the conclusion that the scope of my game was too large, I decided to sacrifice the later half of it.

In retrospective this helped my project a lot and gave it more focus.

That being said, I have no idea what type of game you are making or how applicable this advice would be. All I will say is that you should maybe re-evaluate the scope of the game to see if it is all really necessary.

 

[Xovi]

i follow my dreams, some may not be accomplished, but being hardy and being free, is better than being regretful.