How Old is Too Old?

Today I began to think about where my life is compared to what I wanted out of life when I was younger. You know, how when you are a kid and the whole "When I grow up I want to be a ____" thing. We all usually have these grandiose ideas of what we want to be, like a pro athlete, an actor, a doctor, the president, etc. So it got me to thinking, at what point are we "grown up", and how old is too old to continue chasing a childhood dream?

For me, I had always wanted to be a baseball player, or at least into my early teenage years. After that, I began to play music and learned to play guitar and it became wanting to be a rock star and play music for a living. As much of a passion as I have always had for music and playing guitar, it is something that I never seriously pursued. I played in a few makeshift groups when I was in my teens and early 20's, but nothing that panned out. Then I began working "real" jobs when it came to the point of needing to make a living. and now here I am 35 years old with a wife, child, mortgage and a "real job", which has nothing to do with music or any other childhood aspirations. Not that I ever really gave up on my dream and passion for music, but life just kind of happened and it wasn't a priority. I am sure this is something that many people, probably most, have gone through, but maybe I just obsess over it more than most.

And so now I sit and think, as I have many times before, if it is something I could ever fall back into if I tried to follow that distant dream? When do we come to the realization that this is what our life is going to be, that this is our reality? At what point do we give up the idea of chasing childhood dreams? Or is it a healthy thing to always have an eye on something more??

Is it selfish to want something more for yourself, when you have a life that is set and complete? Sure, some things you can go to school for as an adult and change courses, but others age gets in the way. At 35 you can't start up as a pro athlete (unless you are looking to join the Pro Bowling Association maybe), nor do you see many musicians who got their start that late in life. And when you have a job and a family and bills, it isn't as easy as saying "let me start over and try this instead".

So when is it time to look ahead and not behind? How old is too old to want to try and catch a taste of the sweetness of dreams you had in your youth? This is a question I ask myself all the time...