Dare to dream

A young man, GEORGE EYSER, once dreamed of participating in the Olympic Games. In St Louis, in the year 1904, that dream became a reality. George not only participated, but he won a gold medal in Gymnastics, as well as two silvers and a bronze.

He had always dreamed of being an Olympian and winning a medal. He had dreamed of the glory of reaching the unreachable, a glory that to him was worth more than power or money. Do you know why? His left leg was made of wood, as his real leg had been amputated after a train accident. Almost everyone thought his case was impossible but, for him, it was a dream that had to be fulfilled.

Let me tell you another story. In the Olympic Games of Mexico, in the year 1968, JOHN AKHAWARI (of Tanzania) came in last in the Marathon. He arrived almost two hours after the winner, with a knee injury and in much pain. Only one reporter stayed behind to immortalise the moment.

He asked John why he hadn't abandoned the race, since there was no-one left in the stadium to see whether he finished or not. John looked at him through tired eyes and, almost without strength to speak, he whispered, "My country didn't send me 12,000 kilometers to start a race, but to finish one." Dreams do not belong only to winners.

Have you ever thought, "If I could, I would do this or that"? If you have, let me ask you something else. Why did you stop believing in yourself? You know something? If we think that a problem is impossible, we are the problem. The majority of people die before they die.

They die little by little over their lifetime, losing their hope, joy and the beauty of the simple things. The majority of people die when their dreams die. Although living, they die when they become more and more critical, and when their hearts become ever more bitter in the way they see life.

And let me remind you of one thing. A bitter person has never helped to change the world. It is the dreamers who build the future, those who can see beyond the circumstances, those who are able to show us that there are other possibilities.

Dreamers believe, and believers make dreams come true. We wouldn't be able to live the way we do, if someone hadn't dared to dream. To give you an example, we wouldn't be able to read this page if no one had ever dreamed of recording their thoughts. Many of the things we enjoy today are the result of someone else's dream.

And you - what are you dreaming about now? What will you leave to us all as a result of your dreams? Remember that life is not a rehearsal.

Look inside your heart. Maybe some of your dreams are going to be lost if you don't work to make them come true. Allow me to give you some advice: remember what the Bible says about our desires, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”