The human has left the flat. Don’t tell her I got my paws on her computer.

Zulejka here. In case you don’t know who I am, allow me to enlighten you. Here are some of my more delightful moments when my human has captured me in good lighting:

Anyway, my human was suffering another bout of insecurity and was agonizing about whether she’s even fit to be an author and moping around the place muttering about the usual human insecurities, so I’m here to save the day and speak about:

When to self-destruct your dream

Here is the short answer:

NEVER!

Not while you’re capable of pursuing it, have the hands and strength to grasp it, and the breath and ability to achieve it. (And, of course, your dream isn’t detrimental to the world or others. No one wants you punching their own dreams in the gut. Just don’t. Be a cool cat and glide on.)

However, before determining whether to self-destruct anything (you’re so trigger-happy, you humans), you should first ask yourself…

*Is* it a dream?

A (life) dream should be something you can do and achieve yourself – not necessarily by yourself, since sometimes you’ll need the help of others to achieve it, but your dream should never be person-specific (e.g. “I want to be with so-and-so” or “I want so-and-so to ask me out / marry me / do whatever to me”). Your goal should never revolve around a specific person. People have enough of their own problems to deal with without your giddy-happy life path and Ultimate Happiness being added to their To Do list.

Essentially, a dream is something you desire almost more than anything but that you have to invest your time in to make it work or be a success. Examples of dreams: writing, painting, drawing, dancing (or becoming a world-famous author / poet / screenwriter / journalist / painter / illustrator / dancer…), competing in martial arts, athletics, becoming a professional game player, actor/actress, lawyer, doctor, housewife / househusband, traveling the globe, opening your own store or creating your own craft line, starting a business…

But…

Is it a *true* dream?

Sometimes what you’re doing is just a hobby, not a dream. Most people have varied interests and activities they enjoy, but with increasing responsibilities and decreasing amounts of free time, you have to pick which ones you can let go and which ones you want to hold close and breathe life into, because generally you won’t be able to do them all. Either all of them will end up half done or you’ll have to choose which ones to go at full throttle. Which ones are you really serious about and really want to achieve?

When the time comes to choose which interest to focus on, you need to ask yourself about each one:

What would happen if you gave it up?

Would you go on with life slightly sad or utterly destroyed? Would the rest of the things in your life pale in comparison and completely lose meaning or would they suddenly become that much richer because you could invest more time in them? Only you can decide which dream your heart can’t let go of and which ones it can.

Which brings us to:

How much would you sacrifice for it?

Everything involves sacrifice: if you’re eating, you’re not sleeping. If you’re writing, you’re not drawing. You have to decide what you’re willing to sacrifice. Like, if I’m busy focusing my time on hissing at that Other Cat in my household, I might miss my human feeding me chicken off her pizza.

But you have to sacrifice something, because if you’re busy doing fifty million little things, you miss doing the one big one that matters. Decide what you can let go of, then do it. But be aware of what you’re sacrificing so it doesn’t become too much.

Alright, I’m bored with this topic now. The catnip is calling. Or is it snack time? CHICKEN OFF THE PIZZA! Decisions, decisions… and by the way, I’m put out with my human for making all her books $0.99. What’s going to fund my cat treats now! Hiss. Claw. Oops, there went her favorite sweater. Pity.

Really, though, you humans should get yourselves together and, you know, chill out. Take some time to sit back and face up to the fact that sometimes the sweetest thing in life is just a lazy nap in a spot of sunshine.

And my meow, of course. I have the most adorable meow EVER. Just look at this vid of my lovely meow. And please ignore the poor deluded human attempting to copy my peepy tone. It happens. I’m too endearing to resist imitating.

About Sonya Lano

Owner of two cats and huge dreams and author of any kind of love story so long as wild stuff is going on...