How many of us can actually say we are living our dream? Who has their hands wrapped around their dream so tightly that they taste, smell and breathe it in everyday? I want to be one of those people, but like many, my way forward has been clouded by my own self-doubt, complacency and fear. I have the determination but I worry that I don’t have the talent. Do you need both to realize your dream?

When I was a child everyone told me to dream. “Dream big,” they’d say. I’ve always known what I wanted, that was never the problem. But how do you get there? That’s the question I’ve been asking myself. Every few years I do a reality check where I look at where I’m headed to make sure I’m in track. This time round it has been harder to refocus and keep that inner voice saying that I can do it. Especially during my senior year. This is the last year of high school; I really need to step my game up and focus. Part of me is saying that it’s just senior year, it’s the last year of high school, I don’t really need to care too much. My life is good; why would I want to take a risk and change it? It’s through this internal struggle that I’ve come to accept that there are no clear paths or perfect next steps. You simply need to follow that feeling you have in the pit of your stomach and block out all the other noise.

It’s really easy to fall into the trap of doing nothing and blowing everything off, but it is crucial to remember the larger picture. Unfortunately, it took me much too long to realize that life is greater than just living in the moment. Every action and decision you make affects the rest of your life, whether it’s directly or indirectly does not matter, the point is that it still happens.

Many great historical figures have started their movements off of dreams. Look at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His most famous speech is built on his dream of racial desegregation. Everyone starts with a dream, but it’s solely up to you to turn that dream into a reality. What would have happened if Dr. King had not followed his dream? What you are dreaming about doing could alter the world. There’s only one way to find out.