I have a friend named Monty Roberts, owner of a horse ranch in San Isidro. He had let me use his horse ranch to organize fundraising events to raise funds for at-risk youth programs.
The last time I was there, he introduced me saying: “I want to tell you why I let you use my horse ranch. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who went from stable to stable, from race track to track, from farm to farm and from ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the career of the child’s high school was interrupted continuously. “When I was a senior, I was asked to write a document about what I wanted to be and do when I grew up.”
“That night he wrote a seven-page article that described his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all buildings, stables and the track. Then, he drew a detailed plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch. “
He put a lot of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the first page there was a big red F with a note that said: “Look at 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 child like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You do not have resources Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original reproduction stock and then you will have to pay large study fees. There’s no way you can do it. “Then, the professor added:If you rewrite this document with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your qualification ‘”.
The boy went home and thought long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said: ‘Look, son, you have to make a decision about it. However, I think it’s a very important decision for you. “Finally, after spending a week with him, the boy handed out the same paper, without making any changes.
He said: “You can keep the F and I will fulfill my dream”.
Then, Monty addressed the assembled group and said: “I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000 square foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have the school paper framed on the fireplace. “He added:” The best part of the story is that two summers ago, the same school teacher brought 30 children to camp on my ranch for a week. “He said:” Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was like a dream thief. During those years I stole many dreams of children. Fortunately, you had enough courage to not give up on yours.
Moral: Do not let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what. No Dream is too big or too small when you work hard to live it. One should always try to make dreams come true no matter what.
