While some of us still believe that impossible dreams do
come true, countless others gave up this right. Over the years, various people
tell us to be realistic. Even society says that we all have limits and reaching
beyond these limitations is not possible. But I am firmly against that popular
belief.
So, how can you overcome your limits? What is being
realistic anyway? Can dreams become real?
The thing you must understand is that virtually everything
and anything is possible for you to create. If you believe and take the time
required to form the necessary skills, whatever you want, do come true.
However, you must also collect the essential resources to bring you there.
But the most important elements for impossible dreams to
come into existence are the belief in yourself and your abilities to learn.
Your beliefs determine your actions which in turn determine your results. So,
if you do not believe you can succeed, then you will not reach your visions.
Quite simple!
Realistic and Unrealistic
And when people tell you to be realistic, ignore them. In
this world, all progress depends on those being unrealistic. The only reference
people with limits have is some event or person that achieved something in the
past. Those limitations were impossible dreams years before, yet someone
realized them.
However, could you imagine what would happen if everyone
only tries to achieve what others have already accomplished? I believe the
human race would still be at the Stone Age.
So, it is a fact that you and I, all of us are born to
brilliance and that success is achievable by anyone. If you read their
biographies, most successful people or greatest performers are self-made and
not born with a gift. Therefore, the only problem for most people is that, for
some reason, they do not believe in themselves enough or for their dreams to
come true.
Impossible Dreams Are Possible
If history teaches us anything, it is that when people
assumed things are not achievable, some others preserve the impossible dreams
alive. Those are the ones who still dreamed, making things possible so that it
may come true over time. These pioneers did not listen to anyone who told them
to be realistic. If they did, the world today would still be living in caves.
So, regardless of whether society considers it unrealistic,
it is the pioneers, the misfits, and the mavericks who make it happen. They are
the ones who follow their heart, stand up for an idea and go after it. It is
these brave men and women who persistently push the limits of what the world believes
possible. As a result, they are the people who end up remembered in history.
"Dream the impossible because dreams do come
true." - Elijah Wood
All Can Come True
Playing it safe will bring you nowhere; it is only out of
fear and ignorance that people do. In some situations, it may be good to do so.
But most successful people will also tell you that you have to take some uneasy
risks at times.
And so you have to make a choice, with incontestable belief.
You need to give your impossible dreams a 'go,' or things will never happen, or
even come true. Sometimes you have to take uncalculated risks to have what you
want. You need to see it in your mind and work it into your reality.
And yes, life is like the art of drawing without an eraser.
But life has lessons that no one teaches you in school. Instead, the education
system makes you learn history by memorizing dates or events but never the real
lesson.
A Story about Impossible Dreams
In November 1989, I told my mother that I was leaving for an
international competition in the USA, but that this time I will not come back.
The day after, I left my mother and my grandparents behind me, not knowing what
lay ahead. Waving as I went, I saw her cry for me for the first time.
As we landed on the tarmac in New York, I could see, from
the window of the plane, the Twin towers standing out in downtown. The horse
vaulting competition took place but right after, taking advantage of a window
of opportunity, I defected.
Being from the Soviet Union, I did not know anyone in this
new country, had no place to stay or even a job to rely on. I only had a city
name on a piece of paper and fifty dollars hidden in my pocket. And I did not
even speak English. Impossible dreams you say. Yet I felt my gut tell me: hunt
your dream!
Taking the Risk
And yes, I guess I was taking a high risk to make things
come true, but I had nothing to lose. Instead, I had maybe a lot to gain. I
soon took a bus to Atlanta, Georgia, then another one going south of the
country. We were a Sunday, 5.30 in the morning, when I arrived at the little
Greyhound station in Camden, South Carolina.
Outside in the cold, I said to myself "What should I do
now?" So I decided to walk down the long street I was on called 'Fair
Street.' As I was looking at the houses, my eyes flashed on a big white one,
with two columns in front of it.
I felt my intuition telling me "Maybe you should knock
at the door and ask for help." So after a minute of hesitation, following
my feelings, I mustered my courage, went to the door and knocked. A girl
wearing jeans came down the stairs. I could see her through the small glass
windows of the front door where I was standing.
When Things Come True
She did not open the door right away but just asked me what
I wanted. I could not speak English, so I got my Russian-English dictionary to
find the words I desired to express. After a few minutes, I finally succeeded
to make her understand that I wanted a job and a place to live. She seemed not
surprised at my request.
Afterwards, the door opened, she let me in the hallway with
my suitcase and asked me if I had different clothes to put on. But I could not
understand her, so she opened my bag to find a pair of jeans. And when she saw
them, she gave them to me saying that I had to wear them.
After changing my clothes, she told me to follow her. She
asked me the line of work I was in. I said to her that I worked with horses and
was a rider. Her face lit and explained to me that she was a horse farm
manager. Suddenly, it all made sense. Impossible dreams do come true! I was at
the right place at the right time.
A Life Changing Opportunity
We got in her car and during the ride to the horse farm
where she worked; she tried to speak to me but without real success. Finally we
arrived at a horse farm called "Sandy Dubose Farm." It was a very big
and beautiful place where horses grew for horse racing.
My new friend named Mary Smith told me to wait. Then she
left to talk to the owner to see if she could get me a job. She came back after
fifteen minutes later, announcing to me that I was hired as an exercise boy, a
morning jockey if you will. My work was to ride and train horses each morning.
The Horse farm owner loved European horse riders and was
glad to have me on her team. My impossible dreams had led me to a life-changing
opportunity. Yet, there was more to come. Mary told me that after work, we
would look for a place to live, and she had a good idea of where.
Impossible Dreams Do Come True
The house where Mary was living in on Fair Street divided
into four apartments. She lived on the second floor but there was no room for
me as it was too small. But that across the hall from her lived another girl,
Bridget. And as she had a two bedrooms apartment, she maybe needed a roommate
to share the rent with her.
So we finished my first day at work, the horses being
cleaned and fed, we went to another horse farm. It was where the other girl
worked. We found her riding. Bridget was a pretty blonde with green eyes. After
telling her my story, Mary asked her if she was interested in having a
roommate, and she agreed.
And that is how, in a few hours' time, I got a job and a
place to live in the United States. So never give up on your dreams because
impossible dreams do come true if you want them hard enough.
You Can Do Anything
People often forget that life gives them countless of
possibilities and choices. They are too busy in their day-to-day routine that
they lose sight of what they can do if they put their minds to it. Understand
that a vegetable seed has no other choice than to become a vegetable. Its fate
is locked into that one reality. But you have infinite potential at your
disposal. You can do anything you want.
Think any thought you desire.
Change careers.
Learn any language.
Travel to any country.
Learn any craft or skill.
Start any business.
Begin any project.
So, do not be afraid to have impossible dreams others think
are unimaginable. Start working towards them. Be crazy in your dreams. Plan
when you can. But remember that you have to take risks when you can't. To
discover your true limits and what can come true, you do need to challenge your
own beliefs about what is real or not.
