"Follow Your Dream"
Tuesday, July 6, 1999
The following story comes from the CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: HOME
DELIVERY inspirational email service from Mark Victor Hansen and Jack
Canfield, co-authors of the New York Times best-selling CHICKEN SOUP
FOR
THE SOUL series.
To subscribe:
http://www.soupserver.com/ind.html
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FOLLOW YOUR DREAM
By Jack Canfield
I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San
Ysidro. He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events
to raise money for youth at risk programs.
The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, "I want
to tell you why I let Jack use my house. It all goes back to a story
about a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who
would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to
farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy's high
school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he
was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when
he grew up.
"That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of
someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail
and he even drew a diagram of a 200- acre ranch, showing the location
of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed
floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre
dream ranch.
"He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next
day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his
paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read,
'See me after class.'
"The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and
asked, 'Why did I receive an F?'
"The teacher said, 'This is an unrealistic dream for a young
boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family.
You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money.
You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding
stock and later you'll have to pay large stud fees. There's no way
you could ever do it.' Then the teacher added, 'If you will rewrite
this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.'
"The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked
his father what he should do. His father said, 'Look, son, you have
to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important
decision for you.'
"Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in
the same paper, making no changes at all. He stated, 'You can keep
the F and I'll keep my dream.'"
Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, "I tell you
this story because you are sitting in my 4,000- square-foot house
in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school
paper framed over the fireplace." He added, "The best part
of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought
30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week." When the teacher
was leaving, he said, 'Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When
I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those
years I stole a lot of kids' dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption
not to give up on yours.'"
Don't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.
From Chicken Soup for the Soul
By Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
