Limitless Passion

The car rattled as we drove down the highway. Black night sky, stars dimmed by the city street lights and store signs that blurred as we sped past them. We'd been talking about dreams and goals and the difference between the two, the dinner we'd just eaten and what games we were going to play that night.

I looked out the window. I could just make out Orion.

Amidst realism and dreams, proper planning and spontaneity, I know what my heart wants. I'm tired of everyday life, the routines and the ordinary expectations. There are so many things that I'm not good at, but there are so many things that I excel in, too. What limits do we set for ourselves when we feel an inborn passion trying to ignite motivation in us? Should we set limits? Should we order ourselves in a manner that society finds reasonable so that when "our dreams don't pan out" we have something to fall back on?
Yes, future planning has its place. But what if we tested the potential of Passion as a driving force?

I cannot look at the stars and think I'm meant for a desk job or housewife duties, called to ignore my God-given desires. To each his own, but Earth is not where I set my sights. As a child I swore for nine years I would be an astronaut. The teenage years set in and I gave in to the idea of "realistic goals". It was only after my life fell apart this past summer and nearly came to a physical end that I realized I don't have to conform to what is expected of me -- that is to say, going to college, getting a nice job at a store, bank, newspaper, etc. and raising a family. Since when does human life fit a template? Has our history not been carried on the backs of those who defied conformity and followed their dreams? Rulers that took over lands did so because they had a vision; scientists made discoveries because they did not accept truth to be what tradition and myth defined it to be; eras and ages have come and gone and been reborn because of people who devoted themselves to their dreams and beliefs.

How can we define what is or is not realistic when there is an entire universe we know almost nothing about? How can we define the limitations of life when we have not lived long enough to test them?