Sunday, March 28, 2010

THE POWER OF DREAMS

Hello pals,

When I look around today, I see thousands of people on the roads, in the streets, in the market, in various offices and places of social gathering. But when I take a closer look at these people (including my own life), I discover that we are not all in the same level, some drive around town in classy and flashy cars, some live in big mansions (heaven on earth), some wear very beautifully woven laces, some wear very expensive watches and jewelleries and so on while others trekked long distances everyday without any hope of an end to it, some do not even have a roof over their heads, some wear the same clothes everyday and some don’t even have at all not to talk of putting on jewelleries. Then I came to the conclusion that ‘Life is in phases and men are in levels’.

I went into extensive research and found out that some of these people living a mediocre life didn’t plan for it, they didn’t have it in mind that one day their lives will be this miserable and frustrating. But I also found out that they didn’t equally have a definite plan for their life. They lacked a definite dream which they ought to have held on to during their youthful age and now (in adulthood), they are paying the price.

The power of a dream cannot be over-emphasised. Look at the lives of the world’s richest men today, it’s worth envying but ask them how they started. They will tell you that most of them were not born with silver spoons, they came from very poor homes but one thing kept them going- Either it’s ‘A Dream not to end up like their parents’, or ‘A Dream to live their lives to the peak of their destinies’.

I tell you this- a time is coming when you are expected leave your father’s house (even if he is very rich and willing to support you), when you will not only be responsible for your own life but also the lives and well-being of those around you. And when that time comes, what will speak for you is the dream you had some years back.

You must Dare to Dream. If you don’t have a dream, I beg to say- you are putting your whole life at risk and you are also a threat to humanity. Come to think of it, if hundreds or thousands of years ago, nobody dared, just imagine what and how humanity and the earth will look like today, imagine the extent to which the human race would have de-generated if nobody dared to expand his horizon, imagine if people like Isaac Newton did not dare some hundreds of years ago, imagine what would have become of South-Africa today if Nelson Mandela lived within the comfort zone and never dared, imagine how ignorant we would have been if the scientists of old did not dare to experiment. Anybody that is an international figure today did something yesterday- he dared to dream. And in like manner, those who will be international figures tomorrow are those that dare to dream today. Sex is never a barrier to dreams, in Nigeria today, there is no way you can talk about the Medical sector reforms without mentioning Mrs. Dora Akinluyi (NAFDAC Director during Pres. Obasanjo’s tenure), and there is no way you can talk about the Financial sector in Nigeria without mentioning Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala (Minister of Finance during Pres. Obasanjo’s tenure), and there is no way you can talk about the Banking sector without mentioning Mrs. Cecilia Ibru (Former MD/CEO of Oceanic Bank). In the United States, there is no way you will talk about politics that you will not mention Condolleza Rice and Hillary Clinton. These are ladies that had dreams. You too can become an international figure.

I bet you, if you dare to dream today, tomorrow you will be glad you did.