DREAMS: Only as much as I dream can I be

In this mortal world, everything perishes and will perish – but ideas, ideals and dreams do not. One individual may die for a dream, but that dream will, after his death, incarnate itself in a thousand lives. That is how the wheels of evolutions move on and the dreams of one generation are bequeathed to the next. No dream has ever fulfilled itself in this world except through an ordeal of suffering and sacrifice.
All men and women are born, live, suffer and die; what distinguishes us from one another is our dreams, be it dreams about worldly or unworldly things, and what we do to make them happen… In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “Dreams are the touchstones of our character.”
We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death. But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.
We live and grow great by dreams. Dreamers see things in the soft fog of a rainy day or in the tranquillity of a long summer’s evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true. I’m reminded of a short story…
“I’ll go to the moon”
The story of Neil Armstrong has been told times without number. He stood and looked at the moon and he said to his mother, “One day I’ll be going there”. Everybody laughed. He was less than 10 years old and he was telling people that he dreamed to go to the moon. We could all imagine what kind of rejections he would have received from people. Many would have told him to forget about it, as space travel didn’t exist at that time.
Of course, he held on to his vision and worked towards his dream. He studied, worked smart and became a test pilot. He was getting closer and closer always pushing the limits. Then, he got the chance to join the US Space Program. He worked tirelessly each day, always ensuring that he was at the forefront continuing with his dream. We all know what happened next. He got the chance to go to the moon, and not only that, he got the chance to be the first person to walk on the moon.
The biggest lesson learned from this short story is that we shouldn’t be afraid of the space between our dreams and reality. If we can dream it, we can make it so.
It’s not about age
When we were kids, we had dreams and expectations – we imagine things, we keep thinking about what we want to be, what we want to do, what makes us proud and happy and what we will become.
We grew up, and things seemed like having its own way. We accept our success or failures and we move on. The rapid change, the need to do the urgent things, the works, the pressures and the failures, all kill part of our visions.
Things have changed, but they cannot really take away the dreams. We still have to dream on, to visualize our desires, our wants, our vision of our future, even when we are considered too old for such things.
Cornel Sanders started his business when he was 60, and started the whole successful KFC business. The main thing is not the age – whether being too old, or too young, but it is the desire to dream on, and the courage to realise it.
Vivid visualization, taking it to sleep, thinking constantly about it, talking about it, planning it, adding all the spices to our dreams will make us a bit closer to the realisation of our dreams. For example, entrepreneurship starts with a dream, a simple wish of tiny restaurant operation, or a huge business of real-estate development, or a modest training centre for a Computer course, or just any other self-employed money earning fun.
Only man dreams
The ability to dream is one of the finest qualities of human race that other species do not possess. So dream on, and put a deadline: make it a giant dream, a tiny one, an old everlasting one, a newfound one, a hobby related one, a change of life one, a religious one, a stupid one, a stroke-of-genius one, or just whatever…
I personally believe that dreams are not what we see when we sleep; instead, dreams are what do not let us sleep. Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.
Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, we have within us the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. So, let’s go confidently in the direction of our dreams. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now. In the words of George Bernard Shaw, “Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.”