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Follow Your Dream' I% G8 {% ~ h5 Z( f4 m
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* \3 H0 I D cI have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. 0 ]: j3 L! D& {* Y
He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money 7 I7 J1 I3 M( W5 R9 {' e9 U h
for youth at risk programs. " M. ?! g6 c( w, J9 a& X
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The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, 'I want to tell you ; o- a l3 n/ h. d
why I let Jack use my house. It all goes back to a story about a young
) b: N1 T* R, e) ]1 |! L) X p. Q+ ]man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable ; K: a' }$ _4 z
to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training 9 @2 J# q* S% I2 k4 I1 X
horses. As a result, the boy's high school career was continually interrupted. 8 p3 f8 I9 z2 Q5 N3 D
When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted 1 P5 @5 ?( A" ~! _9 M) N
to be and do when he grew up. , @ z5 r& X; B* P8 ]7 T2 C
. a: V7 C) a" S" A'That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday
& |8 y" X4 K7 ~* I1 b O( xowning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even
8 @/ p4 R5 ^2 c+ _, qdrew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, 6 o$ Z7 u# C. g, a
the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot ( T0 V4 R: j$ F) j! m& I
house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.
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7 b% t1 ]0 U& v- u0 {# G$ u9 h'He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he # {+ S4 [( m; u/ ~3 W
handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. + E, M f F3 s V0 |8 h3 o4 d
On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after 4 R$ _ j& v' ?
class.' & F2 c1 n2 b0 v3 Q% [
* O; @2 o( D- x3 a/ i: r2 L9 a! s E'The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked,
f7 T, J1 N W`Why did I receive an F?' 3 b: Y7 L# b+ Y8 v( g6 x8 C3 c- l
: T ~0 A ~! h/ G2 A- q'The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. $ m* A' f: W6 S' m* C9 e
You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources.
3 I$ ?- x. g: U; K$ R% d2 v* zOwning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. 1 S2 F$ P' v [4 A5 g- W- K4 h
You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you'll have to
6 l# {. p U( G) ~: f4 Wpay large stud fees. There's no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher 6 L8 k$ A+ X8 Q3 h& Q7 z9 f
added, `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will ( i+ W$ R5 }+ y$ }# R$ }
reconsider your grade.’
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0 n, S- L' d3 m. d0 K) B'The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father
0 h9 j% `9 H: o/ S- A& Rwhat he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to make up your
# ]2 v! x9 i+ r$ L% Qown mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for
% v* K0 P$ _! B1 ~1 W0 g' Hyou.’ 6 k0 m8 p# O/ x( ^4 T
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'Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same ' b g2 v3 n0 c" C: q$ T3 |9 f6 l
paper, making no changes at all. He stated, `You can keep the F and I'll
' x& _0 h1 P% k5 Q. Dkeep my dream.''
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6 g+ Z+ V& s3 G( MMonty then turned to the assembled group and said, 'I tell you this story 7 B- U+ W, G, O9 D
because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of
1 Q k$ w3 B( k7 V, E2 Smy 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the
2 y8 `# {3 z$ A& w2 i; ^fireplace.' He added, 'The best part of the story is that two summers ago
6 A+ D" ~) f8 |% t @+ ^: lthat same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.'
# F x# L0 b9 S8 I& t& hWhen the teacher was leaving, he said, `Look, Monty, I can tell you this
2 l. G0 X. s/ u5 U# D5 x; ]; ]now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During
$ o( D# I2 l4 o$ K, K7 uthose years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption
" [3 R7 W% h- ?# z- v% G" knot to give up on yours.’' 8 N5 Y! q- f: H) Q/ Q& L
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Don't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what. |
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