Your dreams
Love what you do
Your goals
Show enthusiasm
Believe? Do you believe in having dreams? Holding on to them? Here is a story that says never give up on your dreams that we found on several websites (all listed author unknown). We believe it is an excellent story that illustrates the power of holding onto your dreams.
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
– Eleanor Roosevelt
Imagine you could go back in time and give your 20-year-old self a bit of advice on investing in the creative process, coming up with new ideas, and producing good, fun work.
What would you say?
I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in California. From time to time he permitted me to use his home for youth at risk fund raising events.
The last event he introduced me by saying:
I want to tell you why I let Jack use my home for this fund raising. It goes back to a story of a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer, who traveled from town to town training horses. As a result his son’s education was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be when he grew up.
That night he wrote a seven page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a map of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables, and the track. He also drew a detailed floor plan for a 4000 square foot home that would be located on the ranch.
He put a great deal of his heart into the project and turned in the paper the next day. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note from his teacher that asked him to see him after class.
The student went to the teacher after class as instructed and asked why he had received the failing grade.
The teacher said:
This is an unrealistic dream for someone like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant, poor family with few resources. Owning a horse ranch such as this requires a lot of money. There is no way you could ever achieve this dream. Then the teacher told him he would reconsider the grade if the paper was rewritten with a more realistic goal.
The boy went home and thought about what to do next long and hard. He asked father what he should do.
His father said:
Son, you will have to make up your own mind on this. It is a very important decision for you.
Finally after careful thought, the boy turned in the same paper, making NO change. His remark to the teacher was:
You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.
Another story for you: A Story About Living as Told by a Six Year Old Boy
My friend Monty then turned to the assembled group and said:
I tell you this story because you are sitting in 4000 square foot house in the middle of my 200 acre ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.
