Thursday, March 11, 2010

Aspirations

Please react to the following questions in a fluent, concise, and thought-provoking response. More than anything, I want these to be honest and from the heart. Think about it and let it come out. Make sure you write with solid conventions and answer each question:

A few summers ago, I was at the Crytal Cathedral in Anaheim, California. A quote that always resonates in my head, hung on a giant cement wall asking, "What dreams would you dream if you knew you could not fail?"
Now, realizing that life is a lesson in failures and mistakes and they teach us about adversity, perseverance, growth, what have you-imagine, that the sky is the limit! The fact is we NEED to dream, for today tomorrow and everything in between.

What would you achieve if you knew you could not fail? What are your dreams, hopes, aspirations for life? What do you long for? How can those dreams be attained? What happens if you don't achieve them?

24 comments:

  1. If I knew I could not fail I would find a new way to teach math to others with out confusing them. My dreams are the dreams that have the most meaning to me, one dream is to become a math teacher, another is to become a cheif and own a B and B/resterant, the last one is to design my own home. Well I know that the first two dreams can be reached, no problem, but the last one it would require some extra work. If I dont acheive my dreams, but I know I tryed my hardest to get there, then I will be ok with that. But if I sat around hoping that someone would just hand it to me on a silver plater then i will have no self-worth. I long for the challenge of getting to that dream.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think the real question is if I knew I could not fail, what wouldn't I do? Everything imaginable would be in reach if everything you tried, you succeeded at. One of my dreams that I have had for a long time is to build my own supercar, looks, performance, everything. This will be achieved by pursuing a career in engineering and having a background in design. If all else fails and I end up making the world's ugliest car, I still hope to make someone's dream come true and buy one of their cars.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If I knew i could not fail at anything i did, i would follow every single dream i have ever had. My dream is to someday become a youth minister, but more importantly own my own ranch. I believe thyat any dream is possible if you really work hard to do everything to get to where you can achieve your goals. The way i see it is if my goals are not achieved then ultimatley i have failed myself and possible some people close to me in my life.

    ReplyDelete
  4. If I could not fail at anything, I think I would try/attempt everything that I could possible try, because failure is a big fear that I share with most people. When starting something new, whether it be homework or projects or anything at all, if I have the feeling that I might fail, half the time I just won’t try. I would rather not attempt something and risk missing out than walk into something knowing I will fail. To not have that fear of failure would make dreams become a reality because I would no longer hold myself back from anything. My dream, hope and aspiration is to play football at the collegiate level, it is absolutely what I long for. The only way this dream can be attained is through hard work. Hard work on the practice fields, in the weight room, and in the class room. Without working hard in these areas then I won’t achieve my dream, and if I do not achieve that, I honestly don’t know what will happen.

    ReplyDelete
  5. At the moment my dream is to just travel the world, but not as a tourist I want to live and see through the eyes of the locals. I want to have my own experiences and adventures away from my home. If I were to fail I would make do and find life changing experiences here. I guess my dream is to live a full filling life in what ever I do. So to be honest I am not sure there are many ways of failing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. If I could do something and know I was not going to fail I would do whatever I wanted. I would try and achieve as much as possible. My dream is to play Division I Football for a championship team. For this to be achieved, I must gain weight, strength, and speed in the next year and a half. This goal is very likely to happen and I am willing to do anything to make it happen. I am not even thinking about what would happen if I don;t achieve this goal because I am going to reach it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It is difficult to say what I would do if there were no limitations or chances of failure. I do agree with Patrick, the better question is "what wouldn't I do?" I know that one of the first things on my list would be to learn as many different languages as I could, and to study people and their cultures through experience. Although it seems somewhat cliché, I would also strive for world peace. I would give everyone an equal education opportunity, and limit no one to their chances of success.
    My dream is to learn. I want to learn as much as I can; not just through books or classes, but through experiences. Not just my own, but other's as well. Taking the time to listen to what someone else has to say has more value than many people think. My favorite thing is to help others achieve their dreams and aspirations; that is what I long for. I want to make a difference, I want to be helping others in some way. You can't fail unless you tell yourself that you did. When one door closes, three more open. You learn from everything that you do, which will make you more successful in the long run. If we never failed, would we ever truly learn?
    I hope to be successful. I dream of traveling, writing, and of possibly being a psychologist. To me, success is being happy, it's going to sleep at night loving the life you live, knowing you're doing your best.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What would we attempt if we knew we could not fail? If failure were not an option how would advancements ever be made? We would never be able to learn form our mistakes if we never made any. Most prominent inventions these days have had hundreds of test runs preformed with them. I am willing to bet that not all of those test runs were successful. In other words, what would separate the individual from the crowd? Everyone would be able to what everyone else could do. What it comes down to is, what drives us? In my opinion competition is the driving force behind the world today. Everyone wants to better than everyone. If everyone was the best then what would we be living for? I feel that everyone should try to do everything, but if everyone succeeded in everything then there would be no competition. I like to live life as if failure is not an option but if I do fail I like to learn from that mistake and improve. I have a dream to run at a high level of competition but if I did not have to work hard and deal with injury would it still be a dream? If you knew that you would not fail would it still be a dream? Or, would it just be something to do?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't know if not failing would neccisarily be a good thing. By this age we have failed enough times to never want to fail again, it's a bad feeling but it's a neccisty in our lives. Without Failure, there is no success.
    On the other hand, of course I dream of succeeding, I dream of playing music on stage, of driving cars and of photographing the world...but surely someone else out there has that same dream and if neither he nor I failed, would that be considered success?
    The point I'm trying to convey is that if everyone dreamed without failure, there wouldn't be such a thing as success - it would just "be".
    There has to be BALANCE of failure and success. There have to be people who struggle at playing guitar in order for there to be people to be good at guitar.
    Without failure there is no good nor bad, there just is "guitar" not good guitar, not a good photograph, just a guitar, and just a photograph.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have no idea what I would do if I knew I couldn't fail. I might try to be someone famous. Go to Hollywood and become a singer. And if I was not happy with that, or I was greedy and didn’t like the money I got from it, maybe I would become an actress. I think if couldn’t fail I would do everything that I know I would fail doing today. My dream in today’s life is just to be happy. I want to be happy with myself, happy with a family, happy with the family I already have, and happy with my job. I want to have a life that I enjoy. At least most of the days. So far, it seems like just going to school, and being happy now will help with my future life. I do not know what would happen if I don’t fulfill my dreams. I don’t think there is a true answer unless it actually happened. I might be upset, or I could be totally ok with how my life turned out. I really can not say.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Before I start, I think it's really cool to see what all of my classmates think and to know what everyone wants to do. My dream, well just popped up about 3 (maybe 4) weeks ago. I have always wanted to have an impact on the world, to be seen as someone who holds value in the growth and evolving world. To be a big name, to make money, that couldn't be more unappealing to me. I think living pay check to pay check isn't the worst idea. It makes you appreciate the little things in life. I want life to come in like a frieght train and knock me flat on my ass, I want to work hard, but I want to make a living. My dream has always been to go into marketing, to go to college, major in it, and then be one of the big boys of a company. But, the idea of living life just to live it has struck me as an amazing thing, though paying the bills is important, living is what matters. I realized wanting to go into marketing is a very noble pursuit but, maybe isn't for me. I have always thought that when things get tough, doing something like marketing could be a fall back. Things have changed however, now I want to spread my ideas to the world. How is it that I would do that? Through the modern day T.V. programs? On a pulpit, saying something that few would hear? No, I want nothing more what to write. On the T.V, on the pulpit, hell even in person, you can fool most people (excluding the rare perceptive people that you almost never see anymore). None of those things make a difference, all of those ideas are shallow ways to express your beliefs and your dreams. I want to write, I want to be an author, because on paper when you write from the heart everything comes out. I am not afraid of failure. People will either accept you as you are, or they will not. Failure would result in me being some washed up (probably dirt poor) author with a bunch of rejected ideas, and a bunch of self pity. But honestly, after Twilight, if I don't get published then I must have a severe mental handicap.

    ReplyDelete
  12. If I had the opportunity to achieve my dreams and not fail, I would become the 'next big thing' as they say. My ultimate dream is to be on stage in front of thousands and sing and play my music. I would love for people to hear my music and be able to relate to it and feel the emotion coming out of each note, lyric, and rhythm that is played. I plan to go to a college with a good creative and performing arts program to learn and study music and hopefully someday, play it for anyone who wants to listen. The sad thing is, Hollywood is 'plastic,' not real. There are so many artists out there who should be recognized because they are so pure and true to themselves. Their music is real and it expresses their feelings. That's probably why I love Taylor Swift so much. She's so pure and down-to-earth and her music is her real emotions, not just some song written to be a hit. My dream, yes, is a hard one to attain but if I keep pushing and I keep to my heart, I truly believe anything is possible.
    But life doesn't always hand out the lemons, and for that I have a back-up plan. I have always had a passion for teaching. I know it's kind of strange coming from a girl who wants to be a millionaire-superstar but it's more reasonable for me. I would love to teach and what ever makes me happy, singing or teaching, is okay with me :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. If I could do anything knowing that I wouldn't fail, I would invent something that changes the world. As humans we are destroying the planet that we call home. We need to make some drastic changes if we want to continue living the lavish lifestyle we are all used to. Maybe I would invent a car that doesn't depend on gasoline. Or maybe something that can replace trees for building material. I would be helping the economy and getting rich at the same time.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Haha. Who would want the chance not to fail? It takes away the fun in life, the trying new things and seeing what you like and what you arent particularly fond of. But I guess if I had to make a choice of what I would do, I would have to do a job that i enjoy (as generic as that may sound). I dread growing up and being mature. The thought of supporting myself without any guidance scares the hell out of me! Therefore I am naturally atracted to a job with a lot of structure. I need, however, a job that i enjoy. Success, to me, is being happy. If you are the kind of person that is only satisfied by a $150,000 Italian sports car, then I would say go ahead and do what you must to get the money! If you are like me and think that Ferrari would be nice, but there are other, cheaper things that give you happieness, then there is no need to get an excessivly well paying job (unless of course it is a job that you like doing). But jobs aside, one thing I would like to do sometime in my lifetime, is compete in an Ironman Challenge. I dont know how many other people in the world can run a marathon, swim 5 or so miles, and ride a bike 120 miles, consecutively. I would like to be someone who could complete something like that.

    ReplyDelete
  15. There are so many opportunities around us, so much to experience and learn. If I could attempt anything and know I would succeed in the end I wouldn’t know where to begin for I’ve never taken the time to collect all my dreams. To start, I know I would continue my learning career by graduating high school as well as college. But career wise I haven’t made a set decision, all I hope is that I find a job which I’m happy to go to everyday and enjoy whatever satisfaction I receive from it. Whether I am teaching kids how to count or finding the cure to cancer I want to know at the end of my day that I made a difference in the world. Whatever I attempt to do in life, I know I don’t want to fail at achieving my happiness. There comes a point when money needs to be set aside and being happy should be the number one priority in life.

    ReplyDelete
  16. If I knew I could not fail, I don’t think I would end up doing anything different than I would now. I know that I try and live my life to the fullest and try to pursue my dreams and what I want. I would just keep doing that; just maybe my dreams might be bigger if I couldn’t fail. I know I would love to be a part of the Peace Corps, live around the world, go to college, and get a job that I enjoy doing. I want to learn at least five different languages and live with people in all different situations. If I could not fail, then I would just keep trying to do this.

    ReplyDelete
  17. If I knew I could not fail to achieve my dreams I would become a sports analyst for ESPN. Not for the fame and fortune, but for a chance to do something I would thoroughly enjoy. I would travel the world. I would get to see first-hand what I only see in magazines now. I would travel to both the North Pole and the South Pole just to see the amazing scenery. These goals are not out of the range of possibility. With hard work and dedication I could be on Sport Center. If I was committed to traveling I could see a good portion of the world. I wouldn't have time to see everything, but I could see quite a bit.If I failed to achieve my goals I would be disappointed, but it would also be easy for me to move on and look back at what was accomplished.

    ReplyDelete
  18. If I knew that I could never fail; I would try and create something to be remembered and loved. As in every generation there is something that resonates in every person bringing us closer together, whether it’s a cartoon like pokemon, a book like Harry Potter, or movie like Batman. If I could I would create something tangible to bring people together to help define a generation.
    My dream mostly involves creating a cartoon that captures the imagination of the youth or of older teens. Something like this can only be achieved through hard work and a degree in art and I’m willing to work as hard as I need to, too achieve my dream. I realize that my dream will be difficult to pursue because of the pay (trust me there’s a reason it’s called starving artist) but if I knew there was no way I could fail it would be worth all the hard times and uncertainty because to me happiness isn’t in the form of a piece of green paper but in the form of stories, art, and the ability to captivate people.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Knowing I could not fail would give my life endless possibilities and opportunities. If I knew I could not fail I would create a life saving/curing drug and participate in some of the most adrenaline rushing activities know to man. To say I would do these activities is one thing, but since I have lived my life and failed it is hard to say what I would do knowing I couldn’t fail. Yes it would be nice knowing that we could NEVER fail, but how realistic is this? I truly believe for one to be able to learn he/she has to fail.As of now in my life I want to graduate high school with honors and continue on to pre-medical school. From Pre-med I want to enter a further in depth medical school and later be hired as an OB-GYN doctor. I want to help deliver the miracles in life, babies. Later I hope to marry and have children of my own. In life I long to help people, with their troubles, rejoice in their joys and miracles. My dreams I believe can be obtained by, of course, going to college and also traveling the world and hearing people’s stories. I want to travel to help myself to better understand the extremes in life. In America we live such full lives and in third world countries they live dirty, hard lives, I want to see to and help these people. If I don’t achieve these goals I will be unsure if I lived my life to its fullest. I truly hope I will be able to attend college and graduate as a doctor and travel the world to help people.

    ReplyDelete
  20. If I could live life with the knowledge that any endeavor I attempted could not fail, I would not be living at all. Without potential for failure, there is no achievement. Dreams would be meaningless. In a world devoid of adversity, there are no challenges to confront; everything ever desired is given to us. There is no motive, no reason for betterment, for achievement, for dreams if everything we ever dreamed is there. It destroys a need for intelligence, for work, for human capabilities as a race. It nullifies success if it is infinitely abundant around you, making your infinite work just as insignificant as everyone else's. Therefore, I believe it is wrong to dream based upon a world where dreams have no meaning.
    Our dreams, our ambitions, and our goals are all measured by what adversity must be overcome to achieve it. Dreaming should not be limited to the context of there being no chance of failure, because it is amidst this opportunity to fail that our dreams form. The chance of failure is not and should not be a limitation when all dreams can and must be realized within this potential for disaster.
    Having read through many of the other responses, I noticed a pattern. People suggest dreams that they do not believe they can do but would like to in a perfect world. However, all of these are very attainable dreams, dreams that can be realized by anyone, if only through a strong enough desire to achieve it. We all have incredible abilities to succeed and defeat failure; all it requires is a dream. Although this is a slight contradiction to what I said before, it is is through dreaming that one cannot fail.

    ReplyDelete
  21. What would my dreams look like if I could not fail? That is a question that can be answered in so many ways it's hard to pick one. As I was reading through many of my classmates' responses I began agreeing fully with the idea that to live life with the idea that you cannot fail is not to live at all. Dreams wouldn't be dreams if we could not fail. I would love to make the womens' national team and play the game I love wearing my country's colors, but who is to say that cannot ever happen? A lot of times dreams are things people think they are incapable of achieving and to be honest, at this point I probably couldn't make the national team though I'd love to. Just because it may never happen, still gives it the capability to be a dream. In life, what is meaningful to most people are the things they wish they could do. That's what makes life worth living and what gives you something to look forward to. If you knew you could not fail, what would there be to look forward to? You could not feel the incredible sense of pride for overcoming obstacles and defeating adversity. You would never have that feeling of success and accomplishment if you could not fail. Having big dreams allows for competition and in this day and age, the world thrives off of competition. To me, my biggest fear is failure. Without failure, I wouldn't have fear, I wouldn't have dreams, and I wouldn't have success.

    ReplyDelete
  22. If there was one thing I could do and I knew I could not fail, I would aspire to build the best roller coaster in the world. This has long since been a dream of mine; ever since I went to Bush Gardens in Florida, I have always wanted to build a roller coaster. Recently, however, I started to come to terms that that might not happen. I mean come on, what are the chances I’d even become an amusement park engineer, let alone the best on in the world. But now that I start to think about it, why not be the best there can be? The only thing I’m scared of is failure, and since that is inevitable, why shouldn’t I go for it? I don’t think Michael Jordan told himself he wanted to play in the NBA; I think he told himself that he’s going to be the best player ever. And maybe I don’t become the best ever, so what? At least I can say I went down fighting, and I did all that I could do to try an make it happen.

    ReplyDelete
  23. The thought of not being able to fail is very hard to comprehend. I believe that this question is unfair because all my life I have seen an equal amount of failures and successes. When I first saw this question in my English class last year I wasn’t sure how to respond. I thought of all of the world biggest problems like aids, cancer, crime, starvation and fix all of them. If I could do all these things the world would be a better place. I then thought about all the hardest thing that I will have to deal with in my life. I talked to my dad about this question and asked him what the hardest thing he had to deal with in his life. His response was very personal and it was having to divorce my mom. So my real answer to this question would be to fall in love and never fall out of it.

    ReplyDelete
  24. If I knew I could not fail I would attempt everything possible! There is so much that we are not able to do as humans, and even though we can't actually go through life without failing at things, it would be fun to try and see what you could get done! My goal for life is to just be happy! At the end of the day if you are truly happy then I believe you are successful.

    ReplyDelete