Sometimes you have succeed in order to fail. Sometimes success is failure. Sometimes you have have to fail before you can succeed. Sometimes, no, all the time, success isn't success unless you're happy. 

Those words are contradictory, yet coherent. Sometimes you have a dream in your heart, and a duty in your mind. You sacrifice the dream for the duty to be a good person. To take the fast track to respect and success. You excel at a vocation. You earn lots of money. Then you look around you, and the most inspiring moments are still the ones you see in dramatic films. 

You were full of passion. Maybe not entirely sure of how the dream would look unfolded, but you were sure it would be great. At least, you were sure it could be great. Maybe you feel like Ryan Reynolds in Definitely Maybe, crossing so many paths and opportunities and always missing the one that feels like home. Maybe your best of intentions still only qualify you to be a Life Novice. 

Money is nice. It is comforting on so many levels. Professional respect can keep your fire lit for years, only dimming on those rare occasions when you've had too much to drink or experience an unfortunate moment of clarity.

Ah, the moment of clarity. And WHEN it comes, for it always comes, clarity shows you that the money wasn't all that. The prestige wasn't as fulfilling either. They're still great accessories, but they're only the frosting, and not the cake. And you want the cake. You were born for the cake.

Why not skip the pursuit of wealth and go straight for the happiness? Why waste your time with the detour? Maybe you have plenty of reasons. Maybe you were driven by fear of poverty; the kind of poverty that could only come from pursuing one's dreams. Or perhaps you felt you couldn't pass up the money for your family's sake. After all, what could they need more than designer clothes and a posh lifestyle?

Maybe you were just afraid of failure, and not pursuing your dream is the only way you know how to keep the dream from uttering the gurgle of death. Whatever your reason, you pursued the money. You became the job. You were sucked into the lifestyle. You know the one. The one that constantly demands so much of your time and focus that you'll never have the time to pursue anything else. 

But success can be an odd bedfellow. Success at something other than your dream is really failure. It is always somehow less. And yet you learn to depend upon  success to afford the lifestyle that keeps you comfortable, though not happy.

Happiness is fleeting. Or so they say. Who ARE "they", anyway? And do they really know? Do you? Not until you've surrendered your pursuit of money and elite status and go after the dream. 

In the end, perhaps it was Fate. Perhaps you had to endure success to silence the question "Could I ever be that successful?" Perhaps you need to be able to say yes before you can say no. Once you've attained a certain status, you're no longer intimidated by that level of professionalism, influence, or success. You've been there. You've done that. It's familiar. Now you can move on. To what really matters.

Being "poor" isn't so bad when it's a choice. It's terrible when it's not. Be a slave to nothing. Do not fear poverty or living a life without recognition. Conquer your fears. Face them in the arena of Success if you must. But in the end, conquer it you must. Only then will you feel free to pursue the dream God set in your heart. Your calling. Your destiny. Your purpose. Your passion. 

Not everyone follows this path to reach the end. But isn't it comforting to know the path is there, and that you're not the first one to travel it? Conquer your fears. Do whatever you must. Because living the dream is why you dream in the first place. It is the end. The purpose. The quest. The discovery. And in doing what you love, you find that the fame and the money and the recognition aren't the greatest reward. It's the deep sense of satisfaction within that comes from creating or becoming that which you knew in your heart was possible. When the action is the reward, the results are all icing. And you were born for cake.