Dreams, Plans, and What Time Brings: Could the Journey Be the Answer?
What we dream of and what life actually gives us often don’t follow the same path. Sometimes we set a goal, make a plan, and wait with hope. But when things don’t go as we imagined, we start asking ourselves:
“Was my plan wrong?”
“Or is life simply leading me somewhere else?”
Dreams bring peace and hope to the human mind. But when dreams don’t come true one by one, that peace slowly turns into anxiety and eventually, pessimism sits beside us like an old friend.
At that point, you may even begin to ask, “Should I stop dreaming altogether?”
I believe there’s a difference between a planned dream and an unplanned one. A planned dream requires patience, time, and effort. An unplanned dream depends more on luck, fate, or a miracle. People who lack patience usually find themselves hoping that luck is on their side. They say, “Maybe it wasn’t meant for me,” or “It just wasn’t my destiny.”
But sometimes it’s not about fate or destiny it’s about readiness.
When I dream, I always consider the reality of it. I ask myself:
Is this dream even possible?
Do I have the patience, discipline, and willpower to follow through?
And most importantly: Is this dream worth the wait?
Back in high school, I was excited about many different careers. Doctor, actor, engineer, traveler, teacher… But deep down I knew, we can’t have every job in real life. There was only one way forward: try something.
So, I tried acting. I failed. And while I was disappointed at the time, looking back now, I see that failure pushed me in a new direction.
I studied psychology and eventually became a teacher something that was never in my original plans. But life had different conditions.
Now I’m working as a teacher abroad. It’s exciting, sometimes stressful, sometimes fun, and occasionally exhausting.
But in the end, I realize: while teaching others, I am also learning.
My communication skills improve. I gain confidence.
I learn interesting things that make me go, “Wow, I didn’t know that!”
I never planned to gain this kind of personal growth from teaching but here I am, growing anyway.
That’s the power of what time and life can bring you when you’re open to it.
This Wasn’t My Plan And I’m Grateful for That
Don’t resist life’s surprises. Instead, be ready for them. Sometimes the dreams you chase may not come true because something even better is on the way.
Make your plans, but give time some space.
If your plan doesn’t work, don’t lose hope.
Shift your focus. Create new plans.
Think in possibilities, not limitations.
Take the step.
Because one day, you’ll either say:
“I’m glad I tried,”
or
“I wish I had tried.”
And trust me, the first one feels so much better.
So if your path ever twists away from your original dream, don’t see it as failure see it as redirection. Sometimes, the road you didn’t choose becomes the journey that shapes you the most. Let your plans guide you, but let life teach you.
Keep dreaming but also keep growing.
Because in the end, it’s not always about reaching the exact dream you had in mind…
It’s about becoming the person who is ready no matter where the road leads.
With love and respect,
Zübeyir Yurtkuran
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