Personal Narrative: The True American Dream

"Hard work, honesty, risk, and competition all must happen for the American Dream of wealth, marriage and family, home and prosperity, and social mobility to become reality." This is what we as Americans have ingrained in our heads as how to become happy. The American Dream is not a set rule of guidelines that guarantees success when attempted. It is not 2+2=4. There are numerous books in the world today "spilling the secret to success". They are however just a regurgitation of how one person became successful. To truly become successful, one needs the true American Dream, not some sweeping generalization that seems to have filled everyones minds. The True American Dream is much more simple, and still, does not have a guaranteed product …show more content…
One person in particular is my father. He may not be a millionaire, or own the largest home, but he has worked hard for what he 's got. My father is content with his life. He makes the most of what he has, his family is happy. When examining how he became successful, it appears this happened by reaching smaller individual goals at a time. His first goal, a career. Penn State University hired him as a janitor with an apprenticeship to become an electrician. Next was a family. He already had his highschool sweetheart for the better part of a decade before they tied the knot in June 1992. Three years later their first child was born followed by their second child three years after that. Each goal came with a burst of happiness. This gives the American Dream, by my standards, even better achievability. By setting and reaching goals you should be happy. Personally, I have seen this happen thus making it achievable. Another person with such success is that of my grandfather. He worked in a factory until of the age at which he could retire. He now lives a modest life doing what he loves to do. He has left a legacy of four honest men who are all successful because they followed the American dream in their own …show more content…
Over the past few years the average American has been placed under much stress due to imperfect situations and fewer opportunities. Such things make the American Dream more difficult for people to achieve. This does not mean that the arrival dream is no longer possible. In fact, many people are achieving success in this not so reliable economy bringing in an element of risk into the equation. Without risk the American dream begins to fall flat deflating all true gambling associated with living in America. Ever since the beginning of colonization in America, people have be risking it all to make a good life for themselves and their family. Now people continue to risk things in hope for gains in wealth, and thus happiness, take the stock market for example. Stocks are on their way up and people who are risking money on investment are now beginning to show signs of growth as the economy