I might be the biggest Jim Carrey fan on the planet. I think that just about everything he has ever done as made me laugh, or think, or both. So when I came across an interview with him recently about failure, I was quite intrigued.
Let me preface this by saying I have been writing and speaking on how important it is to follow your dreams. Now I am not saying leave your family tomorrow and head to Hollywood, but there are dreams we still have that are so attainable it is not even funny. A big dream of mine was to always write a book and the only thing stopping me was me. As of this article, I have written three and I don’t put that in there to say look at me, but to know that your simplest dream is right there for you to grab.
I sat down and pressed play and heard this interview on Jim Carrey where he spoke about his father and growing up. His dad was a talented saxophone player who wanted to make a career out of that but he would have to move to another city and uproot his young family so he decided not to do it. He compromised and became an accountant and always kept that dream in the back of his mind. At 51, his dad lost that job and his family became homeless. It is what he said next that really hit me hard.
“When you compromise and you fail, it hurts even worse than failing at what you love. You can fail at what you don’t want, so go take a chance on doing what you love. “
It means no compromising on the one life you live. Go after what is yours; your dreams are worth your efforts.
It reminds me of a conversation I had with a guy when I went back to college at 27. I was talking to a guy who was 35 and he wanted to be a physicians assistant but was going to drop out of school. I asked why and he said, “By the time, I get my degree and get out, I will be 40.” I looked at him and said, “Let me ask you something. You plan on being 40 anyway, right?” He paused and then looked at me and said, “Well yes.” I said immediately, “Then what is the problem?” He looked and pointed at me and said, “Thank you. I never thought about it that way.”
What would he have done? His dream was to be a P.A. and had he given up, he would have gone into something else and had he failed, he would have failed at something he didn’t want to do, which is easy for all of us. Unfortunately, I know a lot of people who have dreams but do nothing about it. I can’t imagine not getting up everyday and chasing my dreams, I just can’t. As I have been told, no one is coming to tell you to do it. No one will knock on your door and say, “come on!” No one is going to call you and say meet me at the gym, or wherever.
I love reading stories about people who have overcome so many obstacles and had great success. Absolutely love it. As I often say, don’t just chase after your dreams, sprint towards them. You would be absolutely amazed at will happen and can happen.
Never compromise, never quit, pray hard and go. I will see you at the finish line, cheering you all the way.
