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My best dream ever was…
To become a lawyer. You must think I’m crazy. Let me explain.
I decided in sixth grade that my life goal was to be a lawyer. I happened to be a nerdy child, fascinated with United States history, the Bill of Rights, and the development of my nation’s rights and laws. I thought the founding of the nation was really awesome and since the Founders were lawyers, I decided that I wanted to be one, too. It seemed like lawyers had been instrumental in bringing about change so I decided to become one of these people who wielded such a noble power. I wanted to be a girl who changed the world! I had big ideals for a twelve year old kid.
As I grew older, I worked hard and I kept my focus on my dream of becoming a lawyer. I walked away from other opportunities that came along. In high school, although I was a Chemistry whiz, I opted not to pursue a career in the sciences because I had a one track mind and that track led straight to a career in the legal profession. In college, I walked away from an opportunity to pursue a career in academia because I just had to be a lawyer.
I created this idea in my mind that the law was a stately profession where lawyers fought for justice and the betterment of our society. I was a naive, idealistic, silly girl. Within the first few weeks at law school, I realized that my dream was not reality. It seemed like most people were there in pursuit of money and power. Sadly, once I reached my dream, it didn’t make me happy. I learned a tough lesson from this life experience. Sometimes when you achieve what you always dreamed of, the reality is not what you imagined or expected. Achieving this dream ended up being the biggest disappointment of my life.
This seems kind of depressing, but this story has a happy ending.
Fortunately, after several years, I found a position in the legal field where I could help others and fight for “justice.” This is as close as I’m going to get to those childhood ideals I had, so this is a good thing.
And then the greatest thing of all happened.
Although I wasn’t planning on it, I became a parent. Parenting provides meaning, challenges, and happiness to my life that I never could get from any type of career or profession. Being a parent is my highest achievement. It dwarfs anything my career as a lawyer has to offer. Now I can try to make the world a better place by raising empathetic, humble, hardworking, productive, and loving children that will go out into the world and do their best to make it a better place.
So my best dream ever was to become a lawyer; however, my best reality ever was becoming a mama. Even though my life didn’t necessarily end up the way I expected, I got lucky and my reality became better than my dreams.
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**This is a link-up post for “Finish the Sentence Friday” and the sentence is “My best dream ever was…” This link-up is hosted by Can I Get Another Bottle of Whine, Janine’s Confessions of a Mommyaholic, Mommy, for Real, and Finding Ninee. #FTSF
Make It Work, Mama 
I love that you included the reality in this and would totally agree my best ever reality was becoming a parent to my two girls, too!! 🙂
Little girls rock! Although I could do without my daughter’s squealing.
What a lovely post
I am glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for checking it out.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a lawyer, too, after watching the original 12 Angry Men with my father. I wanted to be Clarence Darrow. I started college as pre-law but switched to business management shortly after going to court with a teacher one day and seeing all of the losers who said they were not guilty. And I agree that being a parent is THE BEST reality!!!
To quote from one of my favorite movies – “You have chosen wisely.” 🙂
Oh, that real world of jaded stuff can do serious damage to our dreams!! Glad you found your real dream 🙂
Thanks! It’s not always a happy or pretty dream, but it works for me.
I think that it’s great you pursued that dream anyway. You would have probably spent your life wondering “what if” if you didn’t. It’s always disappointing to be disillusioned, but I think you put it best in your post, sometimes we must achieve what we were dreaming of to realize that it wasn’t what we wanted.
This is true. I know I always would have wondered and had regrets if I hadn’t pursued this career. However, I wish that I would have better informed myself instead of just going into it blind. I was naive.
Totally love that last paragraph! Of course, life throws us a few surprises. Those of us who got the big surprise of having a special needs kiddo have a lot to deal with. But, it can really be a good thing! Most people don’t get that, but it truly is the best way to think of it like that. (Visiting from FFTS!)
I think that leading a happy life depends on how we decide to handle life’s big surprises. I am somewhat of a pessimist, so I am constantly working to maintain a positive attitude. It’s tough for me, but it really makes all the difference. Also, as someone who had a special needs family member, he was an absolutely beautiful human being and a blessing to my family. I agree that a lot of people might not understand that because it’s different and being different makes people uncomfortable. Thanks for reading!