Practical Choices, Hidden Dreams
What could life look like if you stopped being sensible?
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“So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because you never win the game
Just remember that it's a grand illusion
And deep inside we're all the same”
The Grand Illusion - Styx1
During a commencement speech in 2014, Jim Carrey said, “I learned many great lessons from my father - not the least of which is that you can fail at what you don't want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love."
Jim’s father, Percy Carrey, was a talented musician who dreamed of performing but chose the "safer" accounting path to support his family. Despite his best intentions, Percy lost his job when Jim was twelve, plunging the family into financial hardship. Watching his father struggle taught Jim a profound lesson about the illusion of security and the cost of abandoning our dreams.
Have you ever sat in your cubicle, staring at your computer screen, and felt that subtle ache in your chest? That quiet voice whispers, “Is really all there is?” I’m no stranger to that feeling. The world handed me a script for success - get an engineering degree, get a great job, earn a steady paycheck, get a title that impresses other people, and accumulate a bunch of stuff. I tried to follow it perfectly. Yet somehow, the satisfaction that was supposed to come with "making it" was always just out of reach. Like Jim’s dad, I had convinced myself that practical choices lead to happiness, only to discover that practicality without passion is actually poverty.
Breaking Free from the Safety Illusion
What's fascinating about Jim Carrey's story is that his eventual success came not from following his father's path of compromise but from honoring his father's unrealized dreams. Percy's inner struggle motivated Jim to take bold risks to pursue authentic living. It's a powerful reminder that sometimes the greatest gift we can give our loved ones is the courage to become fully themselves.
I've learned on my journey that "playing it safe" is the riskiest choice of all. When we suppress our authentic desires and talents in favor of conventional security, we risk:
Waking up years later filled with regret
Losing touch with our genuine passions and purpose
Missing opportunities to meaningfully impact those around us
Passing along generational fear to our children
The path to doing what you were made to do isn't always clear or straight. For Jim Carrey, it meant using his father's unfulfilled dreams as a catalyst for his courage. For you, it might begin with small steps - perhaps a side project that lights you up, conversations with people not following a conventional path, or simply allowing yourself to imagine a different possibility. Your journey to finding your purpose is going to feel uncertain. However, the cost of remaining stuck in an unfulfilling life is far greater.
None of us get out of here alive. What will you start today that will help you step into what you were made to do?
Today, in fact, right now, is a great time to start.
Hi, Anne Gregory here. Just wanted to know how your Dad is doing. Hope he is well and back home.
I love this Tarek. It's a path I've taken, and while there have been many roadblocks, I just simple pivot, again and again. It can be a lonely path, especially as I get older. I'm "different" from friends close in age and don't have folks all that interested in similar things that I am interested in. I have found myself with more friends online than off. But that is one of the gifts of the Internet, right?