It takes a lot to get where you want to be. It’s been almost five years since I started college. In less than a month, I will be done, and I’ve only now begun to understand how far I still have to go.

We can’t wait to grow up when we’re little. As kids, we feel we can do almost anything; the possibilities in life are endless and the world seems just like a playground to us. As we get older, however, and that era of our life starts coming to a close, we try to hold onto it for as long as possible because we realize we probably won’t have another opportunity to live like that again. By the time we’re considered full adults, we start wishing we had those years back again. And when we realize we can’t get them back, we relive them through our children.

The question I have is: Why should we have to lose that childlike mentality just because we’ve gotten older? I think a lot of us experience so much disillusion in our adult lives that we feel dreams are no longer possible or that they’re just not worth having anymore – which isn’t true. Dreams are what make a life; without them, there wouldn’t be much point.

But dreams themselves are pointless if you’re not willing to follow them wherever they may lead you.

Many people give up when they run into just a little adversity. But if you’re committed to your goals, adversity shouldn’t be an issue, or if it is, it’s one you deal with just like you would any other. Think of it just as another stepping stone to where you want to be, and those hard times will become much easier to overcome.

And hard times will come. If you think you’ve got it bad now as a student, imagine when you’ve got a house and a car (or two) to pay off, children and bills up the wazoo … studying for those upcoming finals won’t seem so bad. In fact, you might even welcome the work!

“A dream is a goal without legs,” Diana Robinson said in her article “How Dreams Become Goals.” “Unless you clarify it … getting there is going to be very much a matter of luck.”

A dream is a wonderful thing to have, but it is nothing without practical application. A dream is what gives you direction, but if you’re gliding along and letting the dream work for you instead of working toward the dream yourself, you’re going to miss a lot of opportunities along the way.

When people’s dreams are clear to them – when they’re truly passionate about something – they tend to put forth a lot more effort than those who may not know exactly what it is they want to do.

It’s important to take the initiative.

Often, we find that our dreams do a little shifting. It’s not that the dream itself has changed, but as what we would really like to do becomes clear, we find the reality of it differs from what we have in our imagination. We may have to alter it a bit to fit our lives.

Dreams don’t just guide us – they also sustain us. When we are doing something we truly enjoy, our lives are enriched beyond measure. There is a Led Zeppelin song that says, “If you walk, you’re gonna get there, though it takes a little longer.” Taking your time may seem like a waste of time when you know what you want, but it makes the reward only that much sweeter.

The worst thing you can do is just sit back and wait.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.