This is the scariest thing about dream-chasing

While I’ve been in the US, I’ve really learned how huge Halloween is over here. The decorations vary from pretty to over the top, the candy looks delicious and there’s definitely something in the air. I’ve definitely seen my fair share of scary skeletons, but I think there’s definitely something a lot scarier that none of us talk about, at any time of the year:

How scary life is, when it is full of chances you didn’t take, words you didn’t write, things you didn’t try and dreams you never chased.

I get it, I really do. I get the fear, the courage it takes to put yourself out there, the vulnerability in being seen, the chance of failure and the overwhelming feeling that you can’t do it.

But I think sometimes we don’t think of the actual consequences apart from the here and now of how impossible something feels, and what bad things could happen as a result of trying.

And that’s this idea of the life unlived. Not just the one thing you didn’t have the courage to do, but how they add up over a period of time, depriving you (and the world) of the amazing things you have to give and create. How they accumulate and you end up creating a life that doesn’t reflect the person you are, or the dreams and wishes you dare to dream late at night when no one’s around.

It’s a bit like ordering cheese (I don’t know why I picked cheese, I don’t know that many cheeses, but bare with me on this).

Imagine you’re a cheese connoisseur and you go up to a counter of delicious cheeses and you hand over your money,and in return, you get given the really shit cheese that comes in a tube. Even though you can see all of these fancy mature cheeses that have you salivate, you’re stuck with the one that comes in a tube for goodness sake.

While perhaps a bizarre metaphor, I think you get what I’m saying here. We have all these amazing things inside of us and yet sometimes we end up settling and getting a shit deal of it.

You would be gutted if you were a cheese connoisseur and you got tube cheese, the same way as you’d be gutted if one day you realised the fantastic person you are and how you settled for the lesser option.

Because here’s the thing: you are not tube cheese.

You are the real fucking deal. And perhaps if you can allow yourself to believe that for just a second, things could change.

I want what you have to give to the world to be in the world. I want to read your words, see your art, hear your message, watch you shine brightly as you know deep down you can.

And the world wants it to. There might be 7 billion people in the world right now, but there is only one you. And you have a shit tonne more than you could ever imagine to give the world.

And you might not know what that is yet, but it doesn’t mean it’s not worth exploring.

We all have dreams, we all have wishes, and we all have a vision for ourselves that we sometimes dare to think of. But that doesn’t mean only the lucky ones get to achieve their dreams or live the life they want to. Of course, priviledge plays a factor in everything, but convincing ourselves that only the special ones get to live the life they have in their head is dangerous. And really fucking scary.

So, this Halloween, think about the life unlived, and then think of all the possibilities of the life lived instead.

Be the girl that lived.

And if you got that Harry Potter reference, I think we need to be BFFS.

What's one thing you've been to scared to do that you're going to try? Let me know in the comments!