Tuesday 18 September 2012

DREAM AND DARE



            To erect even a simple mansion, the architect first of all has to construct the entire house in his mind; the location of the rooms, kitchen, washrooms, the site of the courtyard, erecting the walls, putting on the roof, settlement of all the fittings and the furniture and so on. Then, from the mind, the entire construction is poured out on a piece of paper and corrections are made. Next, erection starts at the gross level and finally the dream home becomes a reality. But from where did the construction actually begin? It began in the mind. Similarly, to raise your life high, you need to sketch it in your mind first. This preparation is nothing but dreaming. So, dream about your life as per what you really want to be!
            To dream doesn't mean that you move around with your head high in the sky. It actually means that you are seeking a purpose for your life. And this can be accomplished only by you. Nobody else can come to your rescue. Once, a villager was packing his suitcase. His friend asked– “Hey, what's up! Where are you going?” The villager replied– “Actually, I'm going to the town to buy some cloth from the market there. Do you also need something?” The friend replied– “Oh, I remember! Can you give measurements to the tailor there on my behalf to stitch a nicely-fitting suit for me?” The villager got puzzled and he uttered, “How can I provide the measurement for your suit? You need to do it yourself.” Similarly, to dream about your future is your forte. You are well acquainted with your capabilities, potentialities, strengths and weaknesses. Others can merely direct or suggest to you; but at the end of the day, your eyes have to capture the zenith defining your life's success.
            Moreover, we should not be diffident if our dreams are not in the league. In fact, our dreams should be one of their own kind. They should be matchless. Imagine if our ancestors would not have dreamt of a far more comfortable life as it is today, we still had been the inhabitants of the Stone Age. Both Edison and Einstein were thrown out of their schools. They were labelled as hopeless students by their teachers. But both of them left a golden mark on the history of science. How? They chose to dream differently. Managing academic degrees and grabbing effortless jobs like others was not what they expected out of their lives. Rather, their eyes were brimmed with higher visions. Someone has rightly said– 'Our eyes make the horizon.' Those who dream big can achieve far more. In the musical South Pacific, there is a song called Happy Talk which says– 'Talk about things you'd like to do. If you don't have dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?' So, dream high, dream big.
            But, it is important to note that merely dreaming will not take you to the goal. If you simply keep yourself engaged in dreaming of a vivid and vibrant future, then perhaps you may succeed in becoming another 'shekhchilli' who only spun tall tales throughout his life. You will be like lottery ticketers who continue to purchase lottery tickets and wish that luck will be compassionate towards them and at some point they will win a jackpot. Great men of courage, adventure and knowledge never waited for the smile of fortune. Thus, you ought to move ahead towards the next step i.e. TO DARE.
Everyone has oceans to fly, if they have the heart to do it.
            To dare is a precondition for every triumph. When a plant rests in a soft, comfortable and cosy small pot, its life is at ease, relaxed and happy! No fight, no struggle, no scuffle! But this way, how deeply and significantly can it stretch its roots? And, up to what extent can it spread out its branches? Noticeably not much! A plant will continue to remain as a plant and will breathe its last as a plant. It will never be assigned the title of a tree. But if it dreams of an absolute revolution from a plant to a fully grown tree, with its gigantic and mammoth branches competing with the sky, then it has to dare. Dare to throw away its small, comfy home and get rooted into the field to withstand all the unfavourable and adverse circumstances. Likewise, to fulfil high dreams and high goals that we have chosen, we too need to dare. Dare to face the challenges that come in the way of success! To go with the flow is an easy option. Even a dead fish can do that. But to swim upstream is the certificate of life. So, dare to stand against all the odds!
            However, an important query arises here, how can one become daring from within? This can happen only when we become aware of our inner strengths. When an individual is conscious of his own tremendous potentialities, abilities and capabilities; when he realises that he himself is the architect of his future, then nothing remains beyond his reach. Swami Vivekananda once said– 'The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength. Teach men of the strength that is already within them.' The world admires strength, not weakness. When a batsman hits sixes in succession, viewers give him a standing ovation in great excitement and dance in amusement. It's the adoration for the triumph of strength. Strength, energy and drive already present in a man receive universal praise.
            But alas! Man uses only a small portion of an otherwise unlimited expanse of his potential energy. Imagine a cow tied to a pole with a rope in vast grassland. Despite being in expansive grassland, the cow can move only in a small area around the pole to graze the grass. It further contracts its area of movement by encircling around the pole thereby shortening the length of the rope. Men too constrict themselves and act within the perimeter they themselves set, not being aware of their immense strengths, capacities and possibilities. But, those who are awake and are aware of their vast inner-storehouse of potential, they achieve towering success even in unfavourable conditions. Milton was blind, Napoleon had a skin disease, Julius Caesar suffered from epilepsy, Beethoven and Byron were deaf and the super-orator Demosthenes earlier stammered. All these personalities realised the huge potential hidden within them and then they dared to rock the world. So, dream big and then dare on the basis of your massive inner strength to progress on the path of success. That's the only way.

These are the dreams of a little kid with a limitless horizon. His dreams know no bounds. As a kid we dream big because there is no edge to what we can do, what we can have, or where we can go. But as we grow up, the people we work with, our friends, and even our own family members slowly condition us to admit the way things are and just settle. But it is truly said– “Take time to dream, it will hitch your wagon to a star.” It clearly states that dreaming is not just building castles in air; instead, your level of success is based on your ability to dream, to dream big, to work hard, to set goals and stay focused. Dream is not what comes when you sleep; dream is something which does not allow you to sleep. History proves that the intensity of dream backs the height of success for every successful man.


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