Is It Selfish to Follow Your Dreams?

Have you ever felt selfish for pursuing your dreams?  Like you are leaving people behind that need you and love you? 

I was talking with someone the other day about exactly this subject.  She asked me if she was being selfish for leaving her current place of employment, as they were already “short-handed” as it is.  She felt as if she was going to be leaving them hanging if she moved on to pursue her own goals and dreams.  She felt guilty for considering leaving.  She even mentioned that she had overheard co-workers speaking negatively about people who had left them short-handed in the past.

So here’s my answer to this question in short:

No, you are most definitely NOT BEING SELFISH for pursuing your dreams in life my friend.  

Now let me elaborate with a story. 

We all know who Walt Disney is right?  BUT did you know he doggedly pushed against his team, family, and friends in pursuit of his dream to create animated movies?  His team at Walt Disney Studios told him that it would “ruin Disney Studios” to pursue the making of his first animated film, Snow White.  Had Disney not pursued his goals, where would we all be? 

Walt Disney pursuing his dreams was anything but selfish, it was a gift to the world!  Our homes, childhoods, and families are filled with his wonderful stories, laughter from the characters he created, and his story has created a legacy of pursuing your dreams! I am sure the people in Walt Disney’s life were well intentioned at the time, but none of them could know what was in his heart—JUST LIKE NO ONE IN YOUR LIFE CAN KNOW WHAT IS IN YOURS.

I have a similar story of my own.  Though I am no Walt Disney, I have been told that my pursuit to study to become a therapist was “selfish” by several people in my life during the very early stages of my academic career.  I was told that it would “be too expensive” and that I would be setting my family up for financial hardship if I decided to attend graduate school.  Those statements were terribly painful to hear from people that I love.  I know they meant well, but they did not know what was in my heart. 

I can honestly say now, with no regrets, that those student loans have been worth every cent!  I love helping people more than anything in this world!  I feel like this effort has given me back more than I could ever ask for. Not only has my education given me a decent paycheck to pay those student loans, but it has given me flexibility with my schedule for my family, and even more than that—it has allowed me to help countless people to pursue their dreams and goals.  It has given me connection to like-minded friends, and access to the information that has served me so well in my own life.  

When I filled my cup up by doing what was right in my heart, it allowed me to fill the cups of others.  That is not selfish. 

If I had chosen to not pursue my dreams, I imagine that I would feel sad, unfulfilled, disconnected from like-minded people, and lost inside. Those feelings would inevitably TAKE AWAY FROM WHO I AM and take away from those around me.  

If people are trying to hold you back in your life and are telling you that you are selfish for pursuing your dreams and goals, I might say that their actions may actually be seen as selfish. 

I would say it is actually short sited of them to hold you back from WHO YOU WERE MEANT TO BE and that they are only listening to their fears, and not your heart. 

If you are holding yourself back because you fear you are being selfish, you owe it to yourself and the world to see what gifts you have to offer when you dare to pursue your dreams.  The world needs your gifts, your ideas, and all that you have to offer.  Don’t be selfish and deny the world all that you have to offer. 

Enjoy learning about all the amazing wonderful parts of you.

Until next time,

Shelby