DREAM BIG

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." - Harriet Tubman

The starting point for any successful venture in life is the period of dreaming. Yes! That time in which you sit down and start to have those "impossible" thoughts, is the period that I'm talking about. It was during such times that the great inventions which we have in our world today were birthed. An example of such was the "impossible" and "crazy" idea of having a flying machine, which eventually brought about an Aeroplane. Of course, there are many other examples of such daring dreams, which eventually became a reality, and have made the world a better place to live in. One fact to be noted in all or these is that they all began with a DREAM.

As individuals, we all, also have dreams which we really wish could come true. Beginning from childhood, we begin to have dreams - to become a doctor, engineer, lawyer, athlete, pilot, accountant, and so on, in the future. We also become adults, and start to dream of becoming very successful and being a force to reckon with in our chosen career or line of business. Some of these dreams are common and easily achievable, as far as the human mind is concerned, but some are uncommon and almost unheard-of. Those uncommon dreams are the ones that usually seem impossible and crazy, and interestingly, if an individual should eventually make them a reality, they are the ones that leave his or her name on the sands of time.

Now, if I should ask you to choose between having a common, regular, comprehensible dream, and the uncommon, crazy, unheard-of type which would leave your name on the lips of people, even when you are no more, which one would you go for?

Of course, you would go for the uncommon dream. You would want to have your name written in gold on the hearts of people, and you would want generations unborn to hear about you. Hmm... That is a good choice, but you need to know that before that could happen, you have to DREAM BIG! It is only by having big dreams that you can have big success stories.

Yes, some persons might want to disagree with me on the last statement. They might say that having big dreams is not enough in achieving success. They might say that hard work has to be involved before one could have the big success story. I quite agree with them; just having the dream is not enough. However, it is the dream that will motivate you to give all you've got in order to achieve success. A small dream would probably require a little effort to make it come true, but a big dream would require a great effort to make it a reality; and an individual who is very passionate about his or her dream would be ready to diligently pursue the dream no matter how difficult it is in making it a reality.

It is important to state at this point that dreaming big also has its own challenges. Never be surprised when you see that your colleagues, friends, and even family members, whom you share your dreams with are not fully in support of it. Some of them are likely going to discourage you. They might tell you that your dream amounts to building castles in the air. They might tell you to wake up from your dream and face reality. You should expect such discouraging statements and more, from those who are close to you, but you must never be deterred by that. Such statements must not wear you down; rather they should motivate you into action so that you can prove people wrong.

Interestingly, the discouragement to your dream might not only come from those you share it with, it might also come from within you. In fact, you might want to erase the thoughts of it from your mind as soon as you start dreaming about it. The whole idea might just seem illogical to you, but that is why it is a BIG DREAM. It is something that might seems to be beyond your ability, and yes, going for it will certainly take you out of your comfort zone. It will bring to test your perseverance, patience, and passion, but in the end you would see that it was worth it, as it would definitely bring out the best in you.

Therefore, nothing should stop you from having BIG DREAMS. Whether your dream is to invent a new machine, to start a new line of business, to be a world acclaimed researcher, a multiple-award winning singer, a renowned actor, the best athlete, a successful writer, to graduate with a good grade, to win an election, or any other dream that you might have, nothing should erase the dream from your heart; rather you should dream more and more.

I know of a Pastor, Pastor J.O. Ayankojo, who would always tell the youths in the church: "aiming high is not a sin, always aim high." This is nothing but the truth, and I would like to paraphrase that quote by saying: dreaming big is not a sin, always dream big. Believe me, dreams do come true. Therefore, never be discouraged from dreaming big.

Let me end this write up with this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt:

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."