By Rhonda Ramsey,
P.O.V. Contributing Writer
I have been thinking a lot lately about goals, dreams, and reality. As your hobby becomes your passion, your passion becomes your dream, and your dream becomes your goal, where do you place reality?
I am a firm believer in
having confidence, (even if I do not always have it), being humble and chasing
your dreams. But I have also always wondered when it is healthy to go after
something “more attainable” and let go of the “dream”.
Here is a short article
that prompted me to give this topic even more thought:
“Three studies examined
associations between goal disengagement and goal reengagement tendencies and
indicators of physical health (e.g., health problems, cortisol rhythms, sleep
efficiency). Based on research showing that goal adjustment tendencies are
associated with subjective well-being, the authors predicted that people who
are better able to disengage from unattainable goals and reengage with
alternative goals also may experience better physical health. Across the three
studies, the findings demonstrate that the ability to disengage from
unattainable goals is associated with better self-reported health and more
normative patterns of diurnal cortisol secretion. Goal reengagement, by
contrast, was unrelated to indicators of physical health but buffered some of
the adverse effects of difficulty with goal disengagement. The results also
indicate that subjective well-being can mediate the associations between goal
disengagement tendencies and physical health.”
This is great
information, but how do we know it is time to disengage, when society says never give up on your dream? Of course
this article is not telling us to make major adjustments on our dreams...but
how much is too much?
When you are so driven
and passionate that you push yourself endlessly, laugh in the face of adversity
and remove the word “quit” from your vocabulary, articles like these can be a
bit confusing. Adjusting our goals may be
“better” for our health? What do you think?
Feel free to comment,
and share your personal journey:
What do you want out of
life? Have you settled? Do you still secretly dream? Or do you find it silly to
dream? What in your opinion, is the difference between quitting and being
realistic? In your opinion, what is the difference between far-fetched and
chasing your dream until you reach that goal?
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