According to scientists, the lifetime urge to travel the world is stored in a gene.
DRD4-7R is the so-called “wanderlust gene”
For us travelers, this is a very numerical explanation for our craving to explore far places, learn about foreign cultures and connect with new people.
What we, hungry discoverers, really need to explain ourselves is a dream. A dream, so big and out of reach that we can barely catch it. And if we try, the dream becomes more and more real. It becomes real in the moment we arrived at our next destination and then suddenly feel this peace within ourselves.
We chase this dream with the most powerful devotion. The truth is that the dream is nothing more than how we see ourselves – in a clear, unprejudiced self-perception.
What does DRD4-7R really stand for?
Taken the formula for the gene and decoding each letter and number, here is what DRD4-7R really stands for:
DRD4-7R = Discoverers are Dreamers 4 (for) 7 Reasons
What is a discoverer?
By definition, a discoverer is a person to be the first to find, learn or experience something never experienced before. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean a discoverer is the first and only of all mankind who discovered a certain thing.
For the individual, it can mean the first time in his/her own experience to discover something even it’s already discovered in its basic existence and meaning. Consequently, every single one of us is a discoverer.
We can be daily, weekly or hourly discoverers, depending on how much time was needed to make the discovery.
We can be slow or fast discoverers, depending on how long it needs to reveal the discovery.
We can be subjective or objective discoverers, depending on our point of view.
We can be inner or outer discoverers, depending on the region of discovery – our own self with all our desires, fears, hopes and dreams what is actually our soul or the outer environment including people, situations and the social/economical/political environment.
We can be realistic or mystic discoverers, depending on our angle of how we see the reality.
We can be rational or emotional discoverers, depending on the subject of discovery.
This list can be continued endlessly as discoverers will seek for a lifetime and this process involves all eras and generations from the beginnings of life.
What is a dreamer?
The next question we have to ask ourselves is: What is a dreamer, in its most simple form.
A dreamer is the opposite of a practical person, guided mainly by his dreams, visions and ideals. As we already did to break down the term ‘discoverer’, we can proceed the same way for the term ‘dreamer’.
What is a dream?
A dream can be short or long-term lasting.
A dream can be steady or hasty.
A dream can be life changing when you achieve your dream but at the same time it can change your life just by following it.
Whatever a dream is, there is one empowering truth about it:
A dream derives from your most inner desires, hopes and beliefs.
Everything that makes you happy.
Boiled down, a dream derives from happiness.
And what do they both have in common? Discoverers and Dreamers?
A discoverer is the pursuer of his dreams. The other way around, a dreamer is the discoverer of his inner desires, wishes, hopes and opportunities.
In order to become a discoverer you first and foremost need a dream.
The more you discover your dream, analyzing every single aspect of it, the more you realize that you, yourself are the dream, were the dream and will continue to be the dream.
Your dream of who you are, who you want to be and how you want to live your life.
1. Dreams have to be born and grown until they’re ripe
Was it the book you always wanted to write, or your own story you wanted to tell the world?
Was it the canvas in the corner you imagined to paint as delightfully, as you had it in your mind?
Was it the profession you wished to pursue when you were a kid, or the volunteer project you barely informed yourself about?
Was it the guy you never spoke to in real life, but imagined a thousand times how much you would laugh together?
Was it the journey you planned in detail, but never dared to book the flight, or the city you told your friends you’ll move to, as soon as the time is ripe?
As soon as the time is ripe. As soon as the time is ripe.
I heard you saying this so many times, that I have to assume you already missed the moment of ripeness.
We eat fruits when they’re ripe, which means only at a certain time of the year. When this time is over, the fruit loses its freshness and we have to throw it away.
A dream is like a fruit – it derives from a seed, continues to grow, is harvested and passes its nutrients on to the person who consumes it in the end of this cycle.
You have to catch the right time – the ripe time
Then you have to take your dream and make it happen.
2. Dreams can drive you beyond borders
To achieve your dream, you’re willing to do everything what is necessary.
Write 10 pages every day, practice painting, learn new skills that your dream job demands, inform yourself about volunteering, talk to the guy next door, book the flight, visit the neighboring city and have a look for new opportunities.
In the end you won’t know, how you made it, but the fact that you made it will boost your self-confidence. This will push you further and further. Little dreams will become big ones and old fears will vanish.
3. Dreams can give you a new perspective
Given, you follow your dreams, knowing that it will take quite some time to make them real, in reality it is the road you have already taken that will make a difference in your life.
You practice your writing techniques.
It doesn’t feel so strange any longer to hold a paint brush.
The skills you learned so far can make you qualified for a job, that can bring you closer to your dream job.
The information you obtained about volunteering shows you the requirements and pursuing those can build the base to apply for a project.
The guy who is not interested in you can teach you the lesson that it’s okay to get rejected sometimes.
The journey you spent all your money on can teach you, how to control your budget on your next trip.
The new city where you couldn’t find any job can open your eyes, that it is not the city you need to change, but your attitude.
4. Dreams can make you become a new person
For some, now you are a writer, an artist, someone who has knowledge in different fields, who has diverse job experience.
For some you’re the girl who dated the most boring guy, assuming he was the most interesting, or the other way around, who dated the most interesting guy, assuming he was the most boring.
For some you are a travel expert, a blogger, an advice giver.
For someone who used to know you many many years, you are now a completely new person.
5. Dreams can lift others
As a writer you can inspire others with your stories.
The painting you finished after several months of retouching can motivate others to reveal their artistic talent.
The advice you posted in a forum because you gained some knowledge about a certain topic, can be the life changing solution for another questioner.
The volunteering project was offered to you, thanks to your good preparations.
Your new boss will never forget, how you demonstrated your colleague another way of solving the same task, but in a shorter time.
The guy who brags how good he looks is taught a keen lesson by the girl, that he would have never ever dated in the first place.
The tips you share on your blog on how to save money can help someone, who is afraid to travel because he thinks he would lose everything.
The apartment in the new city belongs now to a young student, who was initially afraid to move to a new city because he believed, that he would never find an apartment.
Pursuing your dreams can have a positive and inspiring impact on someone else crossing your path.
6. Dreams can help you reveal what you really want in life
Do I want to be a writer, a designer, a volunteer?
Do I really want to work in a job that requires hard work and is nearly impossible to get, because a lot of people want it with the same perseverance?
Why do I want to date this guy/girl? Is it because I think he/she looks good and my friends would be jealous, or is it because I truly like his/her character, that we have a lot in common and could complement our lives?
Are we the ones who can make our dream come true by working hard on ourselves?
Are we the creators of our happiness?
Will our dream make us happy?
7. Dreams can break through age, race, time, space and the universe
As dreams can drive you beyond borders, open up new perspectives, drive change, enthusiast and ultimately reveal the meaning of life, it is the most powerful tool to break through age, race, space and time.
Only dreams can aspire us to touch the universe and catch a glimpse of what is beyond.