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Follow Your Dream: T3 q/ J0 C1 d8 X. n% \7 I
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' f3 C, L f( m6 H9 Q1 b+ b! pI have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. 3 U' I& k/ W: S0 Q
He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money
' G4 o2 J, Q* xfor youth at risk programs. r! z1 S! d$ s, i' p/ M. H# i0 ?
z- {$ d' _* u5 T* B, d6 g# j* u) }The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, 'I want to tell you
6 R+ h$ R/ ~9 B" f; }/ ^why I let Jack use my house. It all goes back to a story about a young 1 D! h: \5 H( |2 ?6 h0 L5 v( {
man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable , z3 i$ `. m. |- |
to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training
- O3 k4 b$ }$ v1 Ehorses. As a result, the boy's high school career was continually interrupted. 5 g3 a1 _% u+ |* O
When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted 3 B0 c7 l, a, `8 W
to be and do when he grew up. 9 p( h8 U& h9 U. X2 \# F7 p
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'That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday 8 v6 t2 j% u6 n2 Y# d! V
owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even . Z+ V2 z2 l! m
drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings,
" ?% t( @8 R3 B V, Lthe stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot
: L3 J. C4 ?: K9 A9 Dhouse that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch. ! A1 P; H; Y. u- _) n$ m+ S
3 _4 v" E$ w# K; d4 _'He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he
* E* S8 I, |. q3 Q4 N8 ?4 K* v9 }handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back.
?, ?1 O# P& i+ Z* WOn the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after
7 L3 g6 i/ r/ B L1 ], r+ v! q8 Iclass.'
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'The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, / v! V" \' c5 S
`Why did I receive an F?'
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'The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. 1 b4 u8 M& f3 ?
You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. : P. }2 @, X' ]# ~5 E
Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land.
- L% S8 K2 s$ j! aYou have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you'll have to 9 C, ]0 A# J" d/ f0 a
pay large stud fees. There's no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher 3 u' N$ g1 P' T& D6 _ e" u3 g
added, `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will & y8 z6 C' A; s, s! H
reconsider your grade.’
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' N% E" H9 Z$ m) _" S, F'The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father & W6 k) y1 w6 g9 t3 V8 m7 L
what he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to make up your & T: c7 \. b8 ~; a/ j! H
own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for
; M- v( n3 k& l" S9 K7 @you.’ $ Q0 Y4 n' S( n: h% ?3 N% o
- z9 j: V& G6 L" \: R'Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same % f# J2 E+ s7 N
paper, making no changes at all. He stated, `You can keep the F and I'll
, U8 s* y) n; ^" xkeep my dream.'' ) F7 {! z" I8 E
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Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, 'I tell you this story
- V. M1 N& ~' Z6 Kbecause you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of
5 z( n8 i, u1 t* [) tmy 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the
" o* w" N8 Z ~" A* lfireplace.' He added, 'The best part of the story is that two summers ago
+ q2 V& }. b" t athat same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.'
: _# \9 A3 G. s. d8 m: l j8 C4 MWhen the teacher was leaving, he said, `Look, Monty, I can tell you this
1 n( f7 X0 Q m0 q: ?( i+ @now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During , g+ Y& x8 [, ?7 S( N6 U/ f
those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption 8 Z" j/ W* M6 H1 F
not to give up on yours.’'
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$ G/ t& U! U& mDon't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what. |
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