How much do you really want it?

You can measure how much you really want something by what you had to give up for it. Usually it’s measured in money, time or a combination of the two. What happens when you are asked to give up on a dream? I’d like to think I would never consider such an option; this coming year I have decided to answer this question for myself.

When Alex Smith was presented with a choice to go to Harvard or to sign on with a mediocre football team, Smith went with his dream. Against the wishes of his mother and seemingly everyone around him, he gave up his potential Ivy League education to sit on the bench of a losing football team. Fast-forward three years, Smith leads his non-BCS team to a BCS bowl going undefeated, is a Heisman finalist and goes number one in the NFL draft signing the most lucrative rookie contract in history.

The hardest part in these decisions is that you never know what you are really giving up. Doing nothing is sometimes better than trying to do everything. What’s the point if we don’t go after those things that we truely want? At least we’ll know whatever the outcome maybe, we fought for our dreams. No matter how hopeless or unreasonable our outlook can be going in, we can’t see the end from where we start. Who knows? With a little luck the outcome might be even better than ever thought possible.