How can a "dream" kill people?

How can a seemingly nice person kill himself and take another 150 people along?

by Mike Inger Helmke

 How can a very rich lady who is now "only" rich say nobody understands how she feels? Why do people throw their girlfriends out of the window? Why do famous actors and singers kill themselves either directly or via overdose of drugs?

What happened to their dream? Why were they so happy while they ran after their dream? Did they believe they would be fulfilled once they reached their dream? Did they think their dream would satisfy their inner longings and hopes? 

What happens to the dream once you reach it? It disappears! You can't touch dreams, otherwise they wouldn't be dreams. Maybe you dreamed of prince charming, or of the one princess who would give you all the happiness in the world. But when you finally find that person it won't take long and that dream god or goddess will disappear.  Instead of living on cloud seven you are down on the floor, stuck with a normal human being who is uncapable of giving you the supernatural happiness you were hoping for. 

When normal human love is not enough for you, then your happiness is nothing more than just an impossible dream. When you dream of perfection you will find that nothing on Earth will ever satisfy you. And that dream of eternal beauty is just that, a dream. The stars in the sky will be just as beautiful in a thousand years, but here on Earth things decay and fade away.

If your dream is to be totally happy once you became an actor or pilot or whatever, then that dream will turn into a cruel awakening once you have finally reached it. Instead of being the hero in the dream you will wake up as just another somebody who is stuck in a routine that serves mostly to make money. That same sweat that you felt when you ran after your dream will still be there once you got it. Your heart won't hurt less, and you won't be less tired nor walk on clouds. You won't change a bit. You will still be exactly who you were before.

Except for one thing.  You will have lost the drive you had. Your dream will be gone and you won't have anything to run after anymore. Nothing to live for anymore. Just routine, the same kind of life that millions of others live. Downgraded from living in the dream of having the ultimate and eternal best  which you hoped would give you eternal bliss. Cursed to living an earthly life with people who weren't created to make you happy nor to fulfill your longings. 

When you finally get that job that you thought would be way above all others, you will find out that the rug under your feet was woven of dreams. It will disappear from under your feet and you will find yourself flat on your back on the floor of earthly reality, just fulfilling your duty for money's sake, whether it earns you as much as you hoped for or not. 

You might say this Porsche didn't make me happy, I will try a Lamborghini. You find that beautiful woman didn't give you the bliss you were hoping for and look for a different one. This way you can keep on dreaming and keep on running. And when  you are old and have tried it all, what then? Become a cynic who knows it all because he's tried it all and thinks it is wrong to dream? 

Maybe it wasn't wrong to dream. It was wrong to put all that hope into the dream. It's not wrong to be a great actor, but it won't make you any happier than being a great lawyer or a great teacher or a great accountant.  There is nothing wrong with finding a wonderful husband, but you are not an enchanted princess, neither is he prince charming. He won't make you happier than any other wonderful husband can. You can have a great life together, but it won't be without problems and he won't be able to solve them all.

Whatever it may be that we are living for, once that thing is gone there will be nothing left for us to live for anymore. But if we don't make gods out of the wonderful and good things we find on the way, it won't be the end of the world should they disappear one day. It won't be easy, but it won't end our lives. Because the real God will always be there for us, no matter what happens during our trip through this life.