“Dreams are like stars. You may never touch them, but if you follow them they
will lead you to your destiny.” — Liam James
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“Dream of the dreams that have never been dreamt,” urged Welsh actor David Bower.
If you, don’t let that dream go into oblivion. “Follow your dreams. I am not saying it’s going to be easy, but I am saying it’s going to be worth it,” said Moffat Machingura.
If other people have reached their dreams, surely you can too. American poet and columnist Langston Hughes reminded, “Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.”
In our youth, we held aspirations and hopes. We envisioned various possibilities. We continuously pondered our future selves, our desired pursuits, what brings us pride and joy, and the individuals we would ultimately become.
“Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become,” British philosophical writer James Allen said. “Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be, and your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.”
However, as we matured, it appeared that circumstances took on a life of their own. We come to terms with our achievements or setbacks and proceed forward. The swift pace of change, the necessity to address urgent matters, the demands of work, the pressures, and the disappointments all diminish aspects of our aspirations.
Don’t get lost along the way. Hollywood actor Ethan Hawke once remarked in The Hottest State, “Don’t you find it odd that when you’re a kid, everyone, all the world, encourages you to follow your dreams. But when you’re older, somehow, they act offended if you even try.”
Pursue your dream, no matter what. American clergyman and author Phillips Brooks reminded, “The ideal life is in our blood and never will be still. Sad will be the day for any man when he becomes contentedthi with the thoughts he is thinking and the deeds he is doing – where there is not forever beating at the doors of his soul some great desire to do something larger, which he knows that he was meant and made to do.”
Indeed, while circumstances may have evolved (we grow older and gain wisdom; some have entered into marriage while others remain single), these transformations cannot truly extinguish our dreams. American publishing executive Malcolm S. Forbes observed, “When you cease to dream, you cease to live.”
At one time, a highly successful businessman was once asked. “How have you done so much in your lifetime?” the reporter inquired.
The businessman replied, “I have dreamed. I have turned my mind loose to imagine what I wanted to do. Then I went to bed and thought about my dreams. In the night I dreamt about my dreams. And when I awoke in the morning, I saw the way to make my dreams real. While other people were saying, ‘You can’t do that, it isn’t possible,’ I was well on my way to achieving what I wanted.’”
Remember what Nobel Peace Prize winner Woodrow Wilson said before? “We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers,” said the 28th American president.
Pulitzer prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck also said, “There are many ways of breaking a heart. Stories were full of hearts being broken by love, but what really broke a heart was taking away its dream – whatever that dream might be.”
“When a dream takes hold of you, what can you do?” asked Patch Adams, an American physician whose life was made into a movie. “You can run with it, let it run your life, or let it go and think for the rest of your life about what might have been.”
If you encounter difficulties in realizing your dream, persistently try again. Have faith in yourself and your abilities.
One day, a small boy entered a large company and inquired about employment. His diminutive stature amused the owner. “What is your motto, my son?” he inquired. “The same as yours,” was the quick response.
The owner was taken aback. “What is that?” he asked once more. “Why?” the boy replied, “the motto displayed on your door – it says PUSH!”
The boy was offered the job. Indeed, never abandon what you have already begun.
As one poet puts it, “When care is pressing you down a bit, rest if you must, but don’t you quit. Life is queer with its twists and turns, as every one of us sometimes learns, and many a failure turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out.”
Dreaming is not solely the domain of children; it is also for the elderly. Regardless of our age, we must continue to dream, to envision our desires, our aspirations, and our future, even when society deems us too old for such pursuits.
Colonel Sanders launched his business at the age of sixty, establishing the highly successful KFC franchise. The crucial factor is not age—whether one is perceived as too old or too young—but rather the willingness to dream and the bravery to bring those dreams to fruition.
Do you still remember the theme song of the movie, The Man from La Mancha? The two paragraphs went like this: “To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, to bear with unbearable sorrow, to run where the brave dare not go. To right the unrightable wrong, to love pure and chaste from afar, to try when your arms are too weary, to reach the unreachable star.”
