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Follow Your Dream6 X# |- R G( v" j; U0 K1 ^# _
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I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. 2 I/ G; D0 ]. R
He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money
( D# X& v9 E7 e( x& v* D3 Nfor youth at risk programs. 4 e, q9 X1 l6 s5 W
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The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, 'I want to tell you
' z6 M8 W$ W, {" Y+ x% r7 M' G1 O kwhy I let Jack use my house. It all goes back to a story about a young
* g# Z( m0 ?* t4 o3 Bman who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable
9 F" P! X2 [- x; bto stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training
/ W0 ^4 g6 m2 H, v3 mhorses. As a result, the boy's high school career was continually interrupted.
" G+ r5 e" w& A9 m4 T, hWhen he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted
5 s. d$ ?3 ?+ ?4 hto be and do when he grew up. + w# C: q! V0 `. _8 d
! A/ v0 \+ W: Z' t H7 F1 y'That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday
l4 o5 D+ T1 o5 G5 s1 cowning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even J; T+ e; A# ]2 z9 C
drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, 0 e9 Y( D @" u& R3 f
the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot : ~! n6 S. i) ?* X
house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch. 1 H: t3 W5 }( ^
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'He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he & c+ M7 P# u$ B- i7 |0 a
handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. # O9 ?7 q- H, _% h, G
On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after
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1 X8 Z# z) `9 y'The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, # `( j2 z j. a: }% f' {
`Why did I receive an F?' ( l' m$ B) s6 p6 M; \* A
: L4 m, k$ H; m, _& c, S'The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you.
- y; z. G; t& m9 L7 l B) x. xYou have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. 1 K5 v3 |7 J2 B2 V+ E$ {
Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land.
# B" r3 Z9 T4 W- @1 IYou have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you'll have to 2 F& K9 z+ w' R( G$ q- T/ I4 s
pay large stud fees. There's no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher 0 c. r0 F- n$ A! d1 s
added, `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will
: @) Q1 S, ~: \/ s7 J/ Creconsider your grade.’ 9 F g9 L- H' q; `
* P, c, {7 r& f: N: K; t, o4 Z% a'The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father
) g5 s8 k/ V& {. M/ x% ?what he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to make up your # K0 \" `5 |& I
own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for
+ a8 o2 y. S! W5 P& Z5 \# V+ h* c- D8 uyou.’
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'Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same
" S- P. f2 M3 K% ?0 I Opaper, making no changes at all. He stated, `You can keep the F and I'll
) @4 p, a5 }, F# ^& vkeep my dream.''
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+ K2 ?/ [3 z8 r8 ~3 UMonty then turned to the assembled group and said, 'I tell you this story + {: l! a/ Q' L% G8 j# |
because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of 9 C% `" F8 i8 P% @. N9 G5 g- J
my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the
# C# E5 e, b; D. u. ` C4 Cfireplace.' He added, 'The best part of the story is that two summers ago % g0 r2 n6 x ^6 Q# z/ n3 l; y5 }
that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.'
0 D/ R+ {% ], E+ C. Z2 m, k {When the teacher was leaving, he said, `Look, Monty, I can tell you this
3 ^8 c) t# Y% f, f% a: Z qnow. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During 5 m d. I% ]4 l6 |9 W
those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption
; R- i) G N7 k3 p( r8 F/ \not to give up on yours.’'
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Don't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what. |
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