Chapter 27 Dreams.
If Bell, Edison, Disney and the Wright brothers never had dreams, we probably wouldnt have phones, TVs, Disneylands and aeroplanes. Had Spielberg been dull and complacent, we wouldnt have the great thrill of Jaws, ET and Jurassic Park either. Walt Disney said, „If you can dream it, you can do it. You will learn in the days ahead that many great things on earth started with an idea. Most great men were so focused on their dreams that they bulldozed through hardship and impossible odds to reach prominence. Edison failed 700 times while inventing the light bulb. Abraham Lincoln trudged 27 years of defeats, before he reached the U.S. presidency. Mr Mandela carried his wish through 20 years of imprisonment, he is now the President of South Africa and a distinguished world figure. Years ago, Mr Conrad Hilton sat in his little motel in Cisco, Texas, with a picture of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel behind him. He dreamed of being successful enough one day, to buy the hotel as a gift for his Mum. Later, he made his dream come true! Today, many Hilton hotels stand elegantly around the globe. Irvine Robbin, another great US entrepreneur said, „Take any giant corporation, ...they were all started by one person who had a good idea and knew how to exploit it. There are hundreds of examples. Dreamers have truly changed and enriched our lives. Where there is dream, there is new direction, new creations, impressive achievement and great human progress.
Believe me, many fantasies can materialise if enough enthusiasm and persistence work on them. W. Bernbach commented, „An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubsagainst it. The worlds history of inventions and accomplishments has proven this too well. Carl Sandburg said, „Nothing happens unless first a dream. Dreams have in themselves many advantages, the following are some of them:
1. Dreams are the starting points of achievements, even great ones.
2. They widen our horizon, open up frontiers and opportunities.
3. Dreams trigger our goals, plans, actions and accomplishments.
4. They bring happiness in enthusiasm, hope and anticipation.
5. Dreams create wonderful products, inventions, circumstances.
6. They kill boredom, boost our feelings of worth and competence.
If you have no dreams, you become dull and uncreative. Firstly, you may have a habit of accepting mediocrity, never thinking of achieving anything exciting or outstanding. Secondly, you may have a low self-esteem, putting limits on what you can do. Thirdly, you may be dwelling too much on stale and stifling circumstances, paralysing a free and lively mind. Get out of these negative situations quickly! Start dreaming now, and change your future by beginning today!
One of my dreams is to publish this book in many languages and to donate some of the proceeds - which may be substantial - to charity. Last week the Pope published a book which is expected to net over US$20 million for charity! With my own objectives in mind, I cannot jump out of bed fast enough each morning!
It is time you start visualising your future. You can base your vision on what you desire and will enjoy doing. Career paths are multifarious. See yourself for example, running a very successful chain of shops dealing in pets, stamps, coins, antiques and various hobbies. Or imagine yourself making fascinating films of chimps, owls, birds of paradise, rare animals and endangered species, while the work takes you all over the world. Your movies have extended exposures and slow motion, showing the butterfly gradually stretching from its pupae shell, and the hummingbird sipping nectar! A few of you could make a fortune in music, songs, dances or aerobic; others would earn US$200 an hour as part time models.
Visualise yourself entering your cars in the morning, then sink into the leather seats surrounded by superb hi-fi music. You have many fun-filled holidays a year, to all the corners of the globe, including the Galapagos, the Amazon, the Yellowstone Park, the midnight sun, Tahiti and Disneyland. The Grand Canyon, the safaris in Africa, and the land of The Sound of Music will be added to your conquests. You visit cities and shop till you drop! One day you are sipping liqueur, and tasting the giant freshwater prawns at the Bangkok Oriental - often voted the worlds best hotel. Another day, you are in your cosy sofas, enjoying your mammoth collections of National Geographic and Reader's Digest. Occasionally, you savour your Steinway & Sons grand piano with The Blue Danube. Then there is the magical Roland synthesiser, or another keyboard that can rival James Last's Orchestra! Friends come regularly for splendid karaoke songs, and marvellous music from your $20,000 hi-fi set. On lazy Sundays, you dip in your pool, then emerge to nibble barbecues and lobsters. Then there is your Garden of Eden, full of blossoms. You ride ponies, hand-feed the fish, birds, lizards, chimps, mousedeers and butterflies!
I can see my family and friends helping at the charitable foundation, generating funds to help the dejected and distressed, providing counselling for the troubled, and learning and motivational classes for idle youths... Keep dreaming. Your dreams will thrust you forward, all the way until your wishes come true. You are not wasting time planning lovely and noble things. Reach for the rainbow and the stars. The universe is unfolding and everyday is a new adventure. Hold on to your hearts desire, and dont be afraid to pray, to hope and wish. Cherish every vision that could make our world a better place. Remember however, that fantasy without action is only castle-building in the air, so you must plan and act, and do everything necessary to turn dreams into realities. Earl Nightingale, the great success teacher put it beautifully: „Opportunity is invisible until we do something about it. A persons dream of what he wants one day to become is invisible. Yet, it is one of the most powerful forces on earth, responsible for all human progress.
"Where there is no vision, the people perish." - Proverbs 29:18.
"All big men are dreamers." - Woodrow Wilson.
"All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea!" - Napoleon Hill.
"If you don't have a dream, how are you gonna make a dream come true?" - Mary Martin, singing in the musical 'South Pacific.'
"Dreams, risks and laughter - three words which I have always used to direct my life." - Bernard Tapie, French industrialist.
"My whole life has been about fulfilling dreams." - Estee Lauder.