The problem with following your dreams

By John Elder
Updated May 24 2015 - 2:13pm, first published 1:24pm
Unrealistic dreams are the enemy of contentment. Photo: AFR
Unrealistic dreams are the enemy of contentment. Photo: AFR
Unrealistic dreams are the enemy of contentment. Photo: AFR
Unrealistic dreams are the enemy of contentment. Photo: AFR
Unrealistic dreams are the enemy of contentment. Photo: AFR
Unrealistic dreams are the enemy of contentment. Photo: AFR
Unrealistic dreams are the enemy of contentment. Photo: AFR
Unrealistic dreams are the enemy of contentment. Photo: AFR
Illustration: Joe Benke.
Illustration: Joe Benke.

In the early days of the civil rights movement, the great African American poet Langston Hughes famously wrote: Hold fast to dreams/For if dreams die/Life is a broken-winged bird/That cannot fly.