The Constant Wanderer

I was watching ESPN late one night and saw this special on the Make-A-Wish Foundation and how professional athletes are doing their part to make the dreams come true for children with life-threatening medical conditions. It was a very inspiring story on how the Colorado Rockies signed a one-day contract with this boy so his dream of playing for the Rockies would be fulfilled. The story reached its climax when the boy met his favorite slugger and they started hitting balls together off the T. Oh it was a great story ...

However, I couldn't but notice the look on the boy's face when he met his hero for the first time. For a split second his face completely froze, probably due to the excitement or surprise, but then I saw in his eyes something strange ... disappointment, utter disappointment. I could totally be wrong, but the more imaginative side of me thinks that at the exact moment when the boy's dream came true, a shot of reality hit him and he realized how unfulfilling the dream was. Perhaps he realized deep inside that there's a void inside of him that cannot be filled by any athletic hero or celebrity, that there's a yearning no mortal can fill.

I can't say for sure that's what went on inside the boy's mind, but what I do know is that this is something that happens to us all the time. We conjure up these grand dreams and spend our entire life chasing after them, and then if/when they come true, we realize how inadequately it satisfies us. But the sad thing is not that we arrive at that state of disappointment, it is when we, after arriving at that realization, continue to lie to ourselves and chase after the next superficial dream.