the power of a dream

 

The power of a dream

 

Let me share a real story with you. It explains the idea of dreaming things. In a high-school, a teacher asked the students to write a paper about what they wanted to be and do when they grow up. One boy in the class came from a very poor family background. His father worked in a 200-acre horse ranch as a horse-trainer. Within the boundary of the ranch, there was a big 4,000 square feet house. That night when he thought about what he would do when he grew up, he dreamt of owning a horse ranch as big as the one his father worked for. He wrote a seven page paper describing the dream. He got so involved in it that he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Not only that, he even drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000 square-foot house that would sit on this 200 acre dream ranch.

 

             We’ve got to have a dream if we are going to make a dream come true.

                                                   (Denis E. Waitley)

 

Till late at night, he kept on working on that project. He put his heart and soul in it and the next day he handed it to his teacher. A few days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, “See me after the class.” It was a big shock for the poor boy. The boy went to see the teacher after the class and asked, “Why did I receive an “F”, teacher?” the teacher replied, “This is an unrealistic dream for a poor boy like you. You have no money and resources. You come from a poor family background. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. There’s no way you could ever do it.” Then the teacher added that because it seemed that he had worked hard on this project, and if he redid the project with a more realistic dream, she would reconsider converting the grade.

 

The boy went home crying and told his father the whole story. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, “Son, it is your life, you have to make up your own mind on this. However you must think a lot about this as it is a very important decision for you.” The boy thought a great deal about the whole matter and finally decided something that most of us would not do.

 

              We must dare to think unthinkable thoughts. (James W. Fulbright)

 

The next week in the class, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all and on the front page wrote, “Teacher, I have decided to keep my dream, you can keep the F.”

 

Many years later, a school teacher brought the class on a study tour to camp out on a ranch, for a week. The ranch was 200 acres and housed a beautiful residential building in it. When the teacher and her class were leaving, the manager of the ranch said, “Madam, the owner of the ranch would like to meet you and your class.” The owner came out and after all the pleasantries, asked the teacher if she knew him. Then he said, “Teacher, I am the same boy whom you gave an “F” because his dream was not realistic. You see you are keeping the “F”, and I am living my dream. This is my ranch”

 

There is nothing like a dream to create the future. Utopia today, flesh and blood tomorrow. (Victor Hugo)

 

 

One day, after winning a rugby game, player Jim Brown was coming out of the field, when a small poverty-stricken boy stopped him for his autograph. Jim Brown looked down at him and asked the kid with discriminatingly tonality, “What would you like to become child?” the boy shyly said he would like to become a star player like him. Jim Brown laughed at the answer and said that it was not easy to become a star player specially, when he was physically so weak. But it did not discourage the boy. He became obsessed with becoming a star player. Do you know who the boy was? Yes, he was O.J. Simpson. That is the power of dream and passion.

 

Colonel Sanders of the KFC, looking at his social security check of $99 dreamt of doing something big, and his dream is now in front of all of us, as a reality. The same way, Quaid-e-Azam, Mother Teresa, Abdul Sattar Edhi, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Winston Churchill, Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, Rosa Park, Elvis Presley, Mr. Honda, Mr. McDonalds, Sams Walton, Fed Smith, Jawaid Tariq Khan, Haji Bashir Ahmad and Khurshid Soofi dared to dream something different and the world laughed at them. These are only a few examples; there are thousands of others. One thing, common in all these super successful people was that they had a passion, a “dream”. They dared to dream the impossible and finally made it possible.

 

Climb high, climb far, your goal the sky: your aim the star. (Inscript at Williams College)

 

My dear, if you read history, you will know that all the major scientific discoveries of the world sounded impossible, but not for those who owned the dream. The secret of unleashing your true talent is a challenging passion, a dynamic dream.

 

I do not understand why people are so reluctant to dream. It does not cost anything but on the other hand gives so much. If you are bored, burned out, or feel there are no challenges left in your lives, you have a challenging dream and a passion and then see the power of it. My experience suggests that a strange thing happens when people start devoting their time to activities they love. They get younger, healthier, smarter, more colorful, more playful and more generous. They become more energetic, open minded, loving and fun to be around. All the energy they generate in pursuit of their passion spills over into other areas of their lives, including the workplace.

 

While dreaming, let your imagination go wild. Just dream; don’t indulge in ifs and buts. There are no limits to dreams. The only barrier is one that you create in your mind. See exactly what you like to do. Don’t even bother to consider the resources required for making it. Just be alone; get away from those who think small. Discover your passion and know your dream.

 

People say we require leaders to run the organizations and not just “managers”. Let me tell you that a major difference between managers and leaders is the ability to dream. Managers do not dream. They are the followers and manage someone else’s dream. Leaders do.

 

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.  (Eleanor Roosevelt)

 

We need to learn dreaming as a child. As we grow, we learn not to dream. Our teachers, parents and other thinkers influence our ability to dream. And remember, if there is no dream, there is no reality. Every reality starts with a dream. I am not talking about dreams of getting married to a girl of your choice. It may be a dream, but too small to live for. I am talking about a “real” dream that supports your life purpose. I am talking a dream, the passion, and the craze to live for something very big, to do something big enough to leave your mark……   

 

 

Taken from “The Road to Success” By “Faiez Seyal”