Chase Your Dreams

       The following advice should not come as a surprise, as I would both hope and assume many have heard this phrase throughout their childhood and adolescence, but I must say it nonetheless.

       Chase your dreams. Chase them down like a lion hunting for his lunch.

       Sometime in the spring of 2009, a trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released, featuring, in its opening scene, two characters standing atop an immense rock in the middle of the water and looking up towards cliffs that can only be described as dumbfounding. Despite the waves crashing against the rock with colossal power, the beauty of the scene could not be diminished. I learned later on that the scene was filmed at the Cliffs of Moher, a tourist hotspot and visual magnificence located on the western coast of Ireland overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. I knew from that moment that somehow, someday, I would have to go there. And finally, that day arrived.

       I took a day tour from Dublin to go see the cliffs, admiring the Irish landscape along the way. My fears began to set in when our bus driver alerted us of hurricane winds moving along Ireland’s coast and that the cliffs may be closed off to visitors. Due to the already intense winds at the cliffs, the hurricane could make it very dangerous for people to see. Luckily, the winds subsided slightly and we were allowed access.

       The Cliffs of Moher stand, at their highest point, at 702 feet. I knew this fact going in, but nothing can compare to their size when you are standing right on top. They are gargantuan, enormous, and magnificent in every respect. Visitors are allowed to walk all along the tops of the cliffs, allowing people to look out into the Atlantic, feel the spray of the water hit against their face, and smile at the absolute perfect beauty in front of them. I cannot express the amount of positive emotions I felt while I was there; it is another one of those moments that reminds each one of us how large the world actually is and how much there is to see out there.

       Seeing the Cliffs of Moher was a long-sought dream of mine and I completed it. Dreams are meant to keep us going, to keep us reaching for things throughout life, allowing our ambitious nature to reign and seek out new and exciting experiences. With dreams on our side, nothing can stop us.

       For anyone that would like to see photos of the two day tours I did while in Ireland, please see the link below:

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