Follow Your Dreams

Biagio a boy who was the son of a poor horse trainer who had to travel different parts of the country training horses each year. The boy’s schooling was affected greatly due to the constant travelling. The boy was once asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be when he grew up.

“That night he wrote a five-page journal describing his goal of 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 into 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 a poor 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.”

The boy went on with his life, had a few struggles, made some ventures and eventually excelled to be  a proud owner of a 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of a 200-acre horse ranch. The very same school paper was framed over the fireplace in the house. 

The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on his ranch for a week.” When the teacher was leaving, he said, “Look, Biagio, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids dreams. Fortunately, you had enough drive in you not to give up on yours.”

Key Value: If your dreams don't frighten you, they are not big enough. Follow your dreams and not let anyone steal your dreams.