What Happens to a Dream Deferred?

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

-Langston Hughes

I posed this question to myself today. I was looking at the middle aged folks working in different department stores and restaurants today, and I wondered where did they plan on being at this stage in their lives? When they were younger, what did they picture themselves doing, and do they still hold that dream somewhere? Maybe the dream was deferred, or altogether died, and this was their stopping point. Maybe they, like me, had yet to discover their dream. After all, how can you pursue a passion when you are passionless?

Of course, I'm in no way belittling their jobs or their lives. Everyone has a role somewhere. I know everyone can't be stars; everyone can't be rich and famous. Without anyone to do the seemingly inconsequential jobs, our lives wouldn't be as comfortable or convenient as they are, so I am certainly thankful. I just wonder what my fate will be if I never get the chance--or never find the courage--to pursue my own dreams. Am I destined to be confined to a desk, surviving and perhaps even excelling but not doing what truly makes me happy? Or will I be one of those lucky ones who finds a purpose, finds a passion, and dares to go after those dreams before they dry up like a raisin in the sun.