How Big is Your Dream?
A dream does not let you sleep, or settle for less. And, it is definitely not achieved alone… Many will join you in your dream, if it includes them too!
‘I was a great dreamer. But today, when people ask me, what’s your greatest mistake, I say, my dream was too small. I recommend to young people whose world it is today — dream big, do not hesitate. The greater your dreams, the more you can achieve.’
Said Nobel Laureate Shimon Peres, the iconic statesman and ex-President of Israel, in an interview a few years ago.
These words hit home. I began to ask myself if I was dreaming enough…dreaming BIG enough.
And, just how big should your dream be, anyway?
Here was a man who had already acted on his dream of peace… It seemed big enough!
He still wasn’t satisfied. He regretted not dreaming a bigger dream.
Why?
Because when your dream includes others, it only gets bigger.
When you want to bring about change, initiate peace, bring countries and people together, or create a new future…the dream is never too big.
And, the dream never ends…
Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘I want to see India free in my life-time. But God may not consider me fit enough to see the dream of my life fulfilled. Then I shall quarrel, not with Him but with myself.’
Gandhiji worked tirelessly till the end of his life to realise his dream of seeing a free India. In this he also had humility — he felt he needed to make himself worthy enough in the eyes of God.
Because, at the end of it, if you haven’t realised your dreams, there is no one to blame, no one to fight with, but you and you alone.
These words sound intangible and difficult to grasp. So let’s simplify them…
The first step is to dream. Big or small… Let’s at least start dreaming.
But, what exactly is a dream? How do you differentiate it from other transient thoughts, desires, ambitions, or goals?
Abdul Kalam described it well: ‘Dream is not that which you see while sleeping, it is something that does not let you sleep.’
A dream is that which makes you restless, takes away your peace, doesn’t leave you alone…
It’s the nagging voice in your head that doesn’t stop talking…till you begin to give it expression.
The next step then is to crystallise the dream, because without complete clarity, you cannot start working on it.
Once you have articulated your dream for yourself, only then can you make it your single-pointed mission.
In the early years of his career, Sachin Tendulkar was driven by one single thought: ‘The only thing that was on my mind was, “I want to play for India one day,” and I was pretty sure and confident that one day I will.’
Once you believe in your dream, you do all it takes to put it in motion. You will stretch your limits, learn new skills, and work on becoming more capable.
A dream helps you rise, because lowering your standards is just not an option.
As Swami Vivekananda rightly said: ‘Do not lower your goals to the level of your abilities. Instead, raise your abilities to the height of your goals.’
A dream makes you adventurous, it makes you go where you haven’t gone before.
A dream gives you unstoppable energy and positivity to overcome your limitations and those of your environment.
And, a dream brings you closer to others...
It makes you see unity where none existed. It shows you patterns where there were only dots.
Collaboration is a by-product of dreams… Without holding the hands of others, little can be achieved, even for yourself.
A dream by its very nature will make you realise the importance of the other. It will bring humility, and aid cooperation.
To quote Nelson Mandela: ‘If you want the cooperation of humans around you, you must make them feel they are important — and you do that by being genuine and humble.’
If your dream is genuine, if it accounts for the well-being of others, and if you are committed to it, you will get all the support you need from those around you.
Thus, a dream, even an individual one, needs to benefit others… It needs to help people grow… It needs to account for the whole world.
But, of course, you can make a difference in small steps.
As long as you’re making incremental changes, one day at a time, impacting ‘one person at a time’, you will slowly realise your dream.
Mother Teresa advised: ‘Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.’
Hence, acting on our dreams is paramount...
The dream itself may be big, sometimes difficult to fathom, but you can make tiny steps toward achieving it.
You may start out being the only hero of your dream, and finally the whole world will have a role to play in it.
The scope of our dreams is not for us to determine. Our job is just to dream, and dream BIG…
Because your dream belongs to the world!
The article was first published on Common Sense Living, a digital publication with new-age lifestyle and wealth-building ideas.
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