Does Success come to the Realist or the Dreamer?
Are you a dreamer or a realist? Does material success come to the goal-setting, objective, practical Realist – or – to the idealistic, subjective visionary Dreamer?
Quotes about Dreams are everywhere these days – in books, poetry, self-help manuals, as well as the sports and entertainment industries. People on ‘talk shows’ often are asked about their dreams, and they can expound elaboratively on their most treasured and/or earliest dreams and the triumphs of realizing their deep and long-held dreams.
Is it simply their Dream that brought them their success? Or is it their hard-working Realism that manifested their victory?
There are two sides to everything. What is the other side of a dream?
The Realist – Rebuking the Dream
On the one hand are the Realists. They are practical and pragmatic people, who might seem to rebuke Dreams… and Dreamers.
Think about the young Dreamers in classic childrens’ literature: from Tom Sawyer to Anne of Green Gables, Pollyanna to Jesse O’Neil. These are the Dreamer characters who hunger for the fulfillment of their dreams.
Yet, again and again, the Realists derisively portray the Dreamers as lost in a dream-trance. The practical, sensible Realist chastises the Dreamer for wasting their life away, for squandering and misspending their days. The Realists frequently use such reprimanding phrases as, “Stop dreaming!” – Get your head out of the clouds!”
Realist characters sometimes criticize and rebuke dreamers as ne’er-do-wells, idlers, shirkers and sluggards. They scold Dreamers for indulging in fantasy, for wishing away their days – and nights. Like a Dickensian novel, the extreme Realist will berate the extreme Dreamer for spending an entire lifetime chasing their ludicrous vision, trying to make their wish come true. They may threaten with the dreaded words: “When you die your life will be meaningless.” (Gulp)
Successful Dreamers Persist
Yet the Dreamers persist. Visionaries and wishers, castle-builders, romantics and idealists all, they do not give up on their dream. History is full of such Dreamers. From America’s Founding Fathers to inventors like Bell, Edison and Einstein; musicians Beethoven and Rachmaninoff heard musical fragments in their dreams; author Robert Louis Stevenson invented some of his most famous characters, Jekyll & Hyde, in his dream state; and, of course, there is the powerful import of Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a Dream’ speech.
All sorts of Dreamers
We have Dreamers who spend most of their time yearning for their wishes and visions to manifest. These are often the romantic dreamers who fill their reveries with hope-hope-hoping. They just want to see their Walter Mitty dreams come true, indulging somewhat in extravagant daydreams of their own triumphs.
Other Dreamers are idealists, and so very passionate about their dream. As often as not, there is an element of hopelessness or delusion, as the characters dream-on, all the while their life does not reflect their dream. Cervantes’ Don Quixote – the Man of La Mancha – comes to mind:
“to dream the impossible dream…
to reach the unreachable star!”
Success: Merging Dreamers and Realists
Nevertheless, Dreamers and their Dream-stories are not inevitably delusional or hopeless. There are always those earthlings who find a way to mix – and balance – both their Dream world and the practical world of Reality. They are both: passionate and patient, dedicated and visionary, eager and ambitious. These Dreamers know how to set short-term goals and work at their dreams conscientiously. They put their face into the wind, and plug away with confidence, for it is all a labor of love.
I know of several young couples living their dreams and reaching for their ‘unreachable’ star. One couple travels the world with their young children, the other has left their empty nest and everything else behind, to live on their sailboat and begin to venture into their sea-dream journeys.
Best of Both Worlds
These are the earthlings who have the best of both worlds: Realists and Dreamers. They have goals and aspirations, and they generate an ambitious plan. They create and work things out, devising and coming up with the multi-tasking it takes to hatch their dream.
Probably most important, these are the Dreamers who delight and find joy in their process. Whatever the hardships, they respect and treasure and believe in their dream – and so, they birth it into their reality.
Believe in Your Dream
If you’re going to dream, then you must Believe: Believe in your dream. As Jesse learns in Becoming Jesse:
“When you believe in your dream
It bubbles up like a firefly
And comes looking for you!”
Jesse is both the sublime Realist and the splendid Dreamer. As a Realist, he is quite busy-full, living life in his New York City apartment and neighborhood, with all the friends and families. But at the same time, as a Dreamer, he envisions his plans, and he idealizes his goals. He is immersed in his focus, and thus, he’s ready when a shiny little clue twinkles into his eyes, because, most of all, Jesse believes in his dream. As each step brings him closer to his dream, he is wonder-struck, and he knows, as Dearie says:
“Follow your dreams and there is no end. It is… glorious!”
Light On!
