It is still fresh in memory, how she stood reluctantly and whined “I want to be a thief”. This was an incident that occurred when I was in Primary four (4). After a particular lesson on that fateful day, our teacher; Mrs. Nike asked everyone to say what their dream was. It went from one row to another, but not without the smirking and chuckling, and finally landed on Abigail. With the response above, the teacher asked “what did you say?” The entire class woke with laughter as soon as she repeated the statement. Indeed it marked the end of the chit-chat.
Perhaps Abi had heard the word “thief” but never cared to find out the meaning. She goofed big time! Nonetheless, looking at it critically now, Abi deserves some credits; for the mere fact that she had a dream.
Martin Luther King once noted:”a man who has no dreams is not fit to live”. Jean Valjean observed: “It is nothing to die. It is an awful thing never to have lived. To live is tohave a dream. This is what defines every human being. I see it in children all the time. At age two, whenever we were in church, our son, ten months old at the time would crawl straight to the drum area except obstructed by the ushers. He has never been under any tutelage but today is a good drummer. His cousin is presently studying aircraft engineering. The mother, my in-law used to tell stories of her son tinkering with radio and TV parts during his childhood.
I have seen young girls mould pots with clay and assumed the position of a mother or chef during school play time. These are not accidents; they emanate from their very soul. Napoleon Hill once observed: “cherish your visions and dreams as they are the children of your soul: the blueprints of your ultimate achievements”. Being alive without a dream is like an aircraft without radar and a ship without a compass.
Sometime back I wrote an article titled: Tips on Relationship and espoused the need for partners in courtship to have a desire/outlook; virtues that pulls him or her closer and closer or makes one fall in love head over hill. After typing the work, I asked the young man to read it. After this, I asked if he could mention three qualities, including looks, achievements, virtues, that endeared him to his fiancée. He replied that as a Christian, he learnt that he is expected to love unconditionally; which is a demonstration of agape love, hence he has no expectations. I interrupted by saying “so you mean you went for her simply for the fact that she is a woman rather than any special quality?” That means you can as well court a mad woman on the street”. This fellow is among the kinds of people Abi is better than; at least she wanted to be something. Thanks to my lessons that day; he has since become a dreamer. How dull life could be without expectation or desire. There would be no interest, choice and no fulfillment.
In the theory of needs, Abraham Maslow highlighted “self actualization” as the highest level of achievement pursued by every individual; it is an exclusive preserve for dreamers. The good thing about dreams is that it has the power to take you to the essence of your existence. Your dreams can become your reality. If you do not get there at all, at least it will take you closer, as the maxim goes: if you aim at the sun you may end up among the stars. However, failure to dream leaves you where you began, frustrated, empty and unfulfilled.
DARE TO DREAM TODAY!
