Live Poor & Dream Big

Hi friends, it's Maria. I've never written a blog before. You can probably tell that Haley does most of the writing because she's super good at it, but I'm going to make an attempt at writing about something that I've been thinking about a lot lately and hopefully it will make sense. Here goes nothing...

I was reading an article for class a couple of weeks ago and stumbled across a quote that really confused me: “Live poor and dream big”. When I first read it I thought it was an oxymoron (that word always makes me LOL because it has moron in it). Anyways, I started thinking to myself, how can someone possibly accomplish big dreams without any money? There is no way I can accomplish what I want to do in life if I don’t have money. And then I literally wanted to punch myself in the face. My mind was so wrapped around the idea of having money that I was missing the point of not only the article, but life in general.

Being a business major I feel as though every single one of my classes has discussed money at some point. I’ve heard my professors say anything from “Just wait until you are the rich CEO one day” to “Money is what drives us to want to be successful” to “Let’s be honest, money DOES matter”. I always nodded my head in agreement with what they were saying, because isn’t that true for most people? We want jobs that will make us the most money so we can buy a nice house, give our friends and family nice things, and spoil ourselves, because that’s what’s going to make us happy, right? We need money to make us happy. If we don’t have a lot money, then our lives must really suck, huh?

Honestly, that’s exactly what I had always thought and being a senior in college, less than three months away from graduating, money is all I’ve been thinking about. Where can I find an entry-level job that will make me a lot of money? How am I going to pay off my (what seems like) 5 million dollars of student loans? Am I going to be a poor college student forever? Am I going to have to live with my parents after graduation (insert terrified face emoji here) if I don’t make a lot of money? All of these questions are centered around one thing: money.

But why does money need to be an important factor in the first place? Obviously having money isn’t a bad thing, but the whole mindset of only being happy if you’re rich is the bigger issue. I used to think that unless I had a North Face jacket, Ugg boots, and a Mac Book in order to fit in with all of the other students at my university, I wouldn’t be happy. But then I continually saw and thought about people I had met who had nothing and were 20 times happier than I was. I’ve been to Honduras twice and the Dominican Republic, all three on mission trips. If you are ever struggling with a materialistic mindset like I had or need a reality check, go to a third world country and see how these people live. I’ve never seen such poverty in my entire life until I visited a Haitian refugee camp in the Dominican Republic, but I’ve also never seen such joy. Kids were so unbelievably happy to be playing soccer in an open field without shoes on because they were doing something that they were passionate about. Those kids could play soccer every single day in those conditions and would continue to be just as happy as they were on the day that I saw them. The little boy in these two pictures is from Honduras. When I met him we started playing a game in which I would chase him, and when I caught him, I picked him up and spun him in the air. Every single time this happened, he shrieked with laughter. Whether it was the first time, the 20th time, or the 100th time, his laughter was the most joyous sound I have ever heard. I'm literally tearing up right now as I think about that because I will never see this boy again, but the impact that he made on my life was unreal. I could barely even talk to him, but his joy is something that I will never forget. He had nothing, but when he got to play with children and be around people, he was ecstatic.

Seriously though, I gave Israel (the little boy) a stuffed animal and painted cat whiskers on his cheeks and you would've thought he had just won the lottery because he was so unbelievably happy.

I think the more important question that we need to ask ourselves when facing a new challenge, experience, job, or big life decision is, Am I willing to live a poor man’s  lifestyle if that means I can accomplish my dreams? The answer should always be YES! Absolutely! Why wouldn’t I be able to give up the luxuries of living in a ginormous house, having a car of my own, eating 50 meals a day (that’s how much I love food), and going out with my friends every weekend? Are those really that important to me that I wouldn’t be able to give any of them up in order to accomplish my dreams?

I think this is where the world has really started to challenge us and one of the biggest downfalls of “Corporate America”. We all want money because it gives us nice things. But, what if I graduate from college, get some super fancy job at a super fancy company with the most luxurious amenities I can imagine….. And I hate it. What happens then? Wouldn’t I rather have a job that I absolutely love, even if I can’t afford to ever eat somewhere nicer than Taco Bell (honestly I would be okay with that because Crunchwrap Supremes are the best)? But seriously. The world has told us time and time again that the only way we are going to survive is if we have a butt load of money. Most of us pay a fortune for an education and are expected to immediately go out into the real world, find a job, pay off all of our student loans, and then having the most perfect life with the most perfect family. I’ve got news for you all…. This isn’t realistic, especially if we want to be happy with our 'super awesome' corporate job that we may secretly hate.

If we are truly passionate human beings, which I believe that we all are and have the potential to be, then we have a chance to make a difference in others’ lives, but also our own... If we all go after what we are passionate about instead of settling for a job that will allow us to have nice things, then imagine how happy every single person would be. Imagine the one thing that you love doing the most. The one thing that you could spend hours doing and never get bored. Isn’t this something you want to do for the rest of your life, even if a small amount of money is involved? I hope your answer is yes.

Today, right now, I vowed to never let myself settle. I don’t want to look back thirty years from now and wish that I had actually pursued my dreams when I had the chance. We have such great opportunities just staring back at us, so why not take advantage of them? Why not live poor, but dream big? Does that actually sound so bad? I honestly don’t think so. When I picture myself owning my own summer camp with my best friend Haley (and Jenna when she visits in the summers while she’s not teaching), hanging out with kids all day, and worshiping our super awesome God, I can’t imagine being any happier. Obviously I know accomplishing my biggest dream is going to take a lot of work. It’s going to be exhausting, I’m probably going to get mad sometimes and I may even say a few inappropriate words. It’s not just going to happen magically and not every day is going to be a good one, but I would rather have a bad day doing something that I love, than spend every single day wishing I had gone after my dreams when I had the chance. 
 
So, I encourage you all to challenge yourselves. Think of your biggest dream, the one thing you are most passionate about. Got it? Now go after it. Don’t let anything stop you, not even the fear of never being a billionaire. It may be something that seems so unbelievably unrealistic, but don’t let that stop you. You can do it. Surround yourself with people who will hold you accountable and will encourage you. Here's a perfect example of this...

I texted Haley sometime last semester to tell her about a conversation I had with someone who was quick to discourage something that I was super passionate about. Here's what I said:

 I was pretty bummed because I feel like, as college students, we are constantly being asked what our future goals or dreams are. When I was asked this question and told my honest answer, I was almost scoffed at. Luckily, I have been so unbelievably blessed with the most encouraging friends. Here is what Haley said back to me:

I went from being super bummed and pretty mad to more motivated than I had ever been before. Don't let people bring you down and tell you that your dream is stupid or unrealistic or is going to cost too much money or that you won't be good at it. And if they do, prove them wrong. Those kinds of comments should be what gets your blood boiling and makes you want to accomplish your dream that very second, no matter how 'stupid' or 'unrealistic' or 'expensive' they may be. I didn't include my response in the picture, but it included something like "I'll send her a postcard of us with the 10 million people who want to come to our camp when it happens". And I actually will (maybe not 10 million people... but close). --Maria


Here's to having dreams, going after them, encouraging and motivating ourselves, and of course, living poor and dreaming big.
--HJM

Comment and let us know what your dreams are and what you're doing to accomplish them! Let's hold each other accountable.