Sure I didn't come up with the idea of a doppelganger as a metaphor, in fact I just stole it from the ending of a How I Met Your Mother episode. But the corny sentiment of the episode rang true for me. According to German folklore, the doppelganger is an invisible spirit double (literally "Double Goer") that accompanies every living being. And according to lore, to meet with this apparition in real life is to come face to face with your imminent death.
But what if we have become the ghostly apparition? A shadow of the dreams and desires that we had when we were young, or worse, unable to even remember what it was that we wanted to be "when we grew up". What would it be like to run into the spirit that is living the life that you always dreamed about?
But fear not, there is still time to change, to grow and to beat your doppelganger to the grave. Here are three people who changed their lives and chased their dreams.
3. Jim Morris: You may not know his name but you may have seen his life portrayed in the Disney film The Rookie. Jim was an aspiring baseball player, who as a result of arm injuries gave up his dream of becoming a big league ball player in 1989. Having never made it out of the minor leagues he became a high school phys. ed. teacher. However, Morris made a promise to his high school team, win the District Championship and he would try out for a major league team. Morris not only tried out, but at the age of 35 he made his major league baseball pitching debut.
2. Martha Stewart: The unstoppable Martha Stewart remains the preeminent lifestyle icon despite her legal battles. But she started her career as a stockbroker until her early thirties when she started her own catering business after teaching herself to cook using Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Through the success of her catering business she formed an empire of publishing, television and home decor.
1. Rodney Dangerfield: Rodney Dangerfield really didn't get any respect when he started out after a career in show business as a teenager. He tried for nine years without any success before resorting to a career selling aluminum siding to support his family. After putting his dream on hold for more than a decade, Dangerfield continued to write jokes and in the early seventies he made an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, that eventually made him a household name in comedy.
