 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Follow Your Dream
2 q& e5 c9 n" d5 W, y1 A
a" ?0 H: G; z
' G3 J9 @; a3 S5 K2 {
% m) L: q$ A0 WI have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. + F' V% j) }/ b% l+ A
He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money
$ p* ]. G1 T8 J7 U n9 Dfor youth at risk programs.
# k" q( L( K4 U: u* ~4 L: I' ?* h* l8 e# o
The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, 'I want to tell you 3 S6 H' o, ^ n3 E3 t/ ?" [
why I let Jack use my house. It all goes back to a story about a young
$ t7 t( W: C: r7 ^, ~$ O3 g! ?man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable 4 o# O; {0 @2 p( P" v
to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training 0 Q: d2 |# l: N- m, K
horses. As a result, the boy's high school career was continually interrupted. & O" M& z6 t1 A8 j
When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted
3 F7 ]" q, o* c* q4 V" W0 _8 Lto be and do when he grew up. + S! [! \$ k9 e
1 d! l8 T9 }) a
'That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday
, Y5 r5 W6 \! b& _& `3 ^+ Lowning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even
1 L8 U' A0 s. z0 \% _: qdrew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings,
: `) Q s" [& n& C G4 Othe stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot
; o$ U" H! y3 L( R2 f- ahouse that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch. % ?- N% @( y) b* S
+ S# ?, z4 f S7 ~: n
'He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he " T6 t2 H% m L8 V9 t: `
handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. ' l$ S3 d _# I# [2 b( ^% V1 q8 S K
On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after ; `9 ~/ ?9 G- @( r; L
class.'
- |) g( K. p5 [- B9 N5 g4 u
# ?3 a) ]# J* x; X2 e$ r'The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked,
" M& F& T% ?1 `+ b& ~) r* N# h`Why did I receive an F?'
2 I% y% x/ ]9 P/ o+ B4 E5 z! m: w6 s9 x2 W# J2 @: w2 w
'The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you.
1 d8 L; Z) ?1 C: A: C- U xYou have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources.
( ^8 y4 j- X7 N: L/ I# o2 ]Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land.
5 H! M3 O+ a; p, z; JYou have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you'll have to
$ V3 l3 b6 t, \. \1 T, \# ]: apay large stud fees. There's no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher $ {. [( |& l! u6 @8 @
added, `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will " @" c( T# Q( I! L# F* G3 N
reconsider your grade.’
) _4 X Q1 ?7 l# E; ^# s: D7 B7 h, c
'The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father
8 K$ |: |: g: I. X; Q+ t- j/ Ewhat he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to make up your
+ y% C- k& N$ uown mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for
5 ~' W+ D9 `$ q+ O+ kyou.’ % e8 G. a$ ~ Q, B, E$ ?6 L
* p! q9 J5 L% O. s$ g'Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same * K5 z1 ^6 l( Y* l6 s
paper, making no changes at all. He stated, `You can keep the F and I'll
$ H1 Z* U C( E0 h5 wkeep my dream.''
" f9 C4 O2 T3 |$ ^# l; {' X- D% r) v8 K4 V& a' T
Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, 'I tell you this story
( E; H' Q5 _0 t9 D2 Z# }because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of
2 z5 ^2 v0 q3 jmy 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the 1 j2 ?5 a, r9 d4 ~% f! U$ _
fireplace.' He added, 'The best part of the story is that two summers ago . Y- W) }: F3 d& V5 ]. Y
that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.' ( x- y2 }# |1 `1 f
When the teacher was leaving, he said, `Look, Monty, I can tell you this 0 ~( |" o6 q N4 {
now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During % J! |, u0 ]. x& k2 ?2 q
those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption
a+ n; r0 ~& v4 ]' J; Gnot to give up on yours.’' ' g8 [. u$ z6 l; P( T6 s2 E+ F+ A
6 q% E+ ^0 K- Z" dDon't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what. |
|