Written by: Rtr. Zainy Hassan Ziya

Every night before bed, we say, “Good night, sweet dreams.” But are dreams only for the sleeping? And are they always sweet? You might wonder who in their right mind thinks about things like this, but please, bear with me while I spill the thoughts that my 89,139th brain cell churns out at 2:00 AM.

We all dream, don’t we? As children, as teenagers, and now as adults, we always have. And while we have grown and evolved, so have our dreams. As a child, I remember wanting to be Harry Potter and fly on a broomstick (yeah, I was a Potterhead). Then, as a teenager, when reality started to creep in (just a little) I dreamt of becoming a pilot (Still stuck on the flying part, lol). And now, as a young adult, I dream of becoming… I’m not really sure.  

And then there’s an even bigger question, do we even have to dream?

We live in a world that glorifies ambition. As children, we were asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And at first, it feels exciting, as if we hold the power to shape our futures. But as we grow older, that question transforms from innocent curiosity to a ticking time-bomb, reminding us that we should be something, do something, chase something. And just like that, somewhere along the way, dreaming becomes an obligation rather than an inspiration. We are told to dream big, to set goals, to relentlessly pursue them. “Follow your dreams!”, they say, as if not doing so would be some kind of betrayal to ourselves. And yet, no one ever really prepares us for what happens when dreams slip, when they don’t work out, or in the worst case, when we lose the will to dream at all.

We are often told that our dreams give us purpose. But do they really? Or do they just give us something to chase so we don’t feel lost? What if purpose isn’t found in chasing dreams but in simply ‘being’, in experiencing life as it unfolds, without the pressure to mold it into something spectacular? There are people who dream their whole lives and never get to see those dreams materialize. Does that mean their lives were meaningless? There are people who never had a grand vision, never had a roadmap, yet still lived content, fulfilling lives.

One of the hardest things to accept is that the dreams we once held so dearly might no longer fit the people we’ve become. And that’s okay. We often cling to old dreams out of fear—fear of regret, fear of wasted time, fear of disappointing the younger versions of ourselves. But what if our younger selves didn’t know everything? What if they didn’t have all the answers? Should we really spend our entire lives trying to fulfill a vision that might not even align with who we are anymore? It takes courage to admit that a dream no longer serves us. It takes strength to walk away from something we once wanted so badly. But doing so doesn’t mean we’ve failed. It just means we’ve grown.

Sometimes, I catch myself wondering about the ‘what-ifs’ of life. What if I had chosen a different path? What if I left everything behind and started over? What if, one day, I wake up and feel no desire to chase anything? What if I just want to exist, moving through the world without the burden of ambition? Would that make me a failure? Would it make me less of a person?

But then, I say to myself that, maybe life, isn’t just about achieving every dream we once had. Maybe it’s about evolving with them. And maybe it’s even okay not to dream at all. Maybe purpose isn’t tied to ambition. Maybe it isn’t about constantly setting the next goal, crossing off the next milestone. Maybe, just maybe, purpose is found in the everyday moments, the ones we overlook because we’re too busy dreaming of something bigger.

We are conditioned to believe that life has to be a grand George R. R. Martin novel, that we must leave behind legacies, that we must chase extraordinary achievements. But what if life is just about living? What if the simple act of existing, of breathing, of loving, of laughing, of feeling the sun on our skin, is enough?

Some might call that complacency. But I think it’s freedom. The freedom to just be.

So, if you wake up one day and realize you don’t have a dream to chase, know that it’s okay. It’s okay to dream and not achieve it. It’s okay to dream and change it. And yes, it’s even okay not to dream at all. Because life isn’t something that’s coming at you, it’s something that comes from you.

And that, in itself, is enough.