"We all have dreams,
but in order to make dreams become reality, it takes an awful lot of
Determination, Dedication, Self-Discipline, and Effort." ~Jesse Owens
Have
you ever had a dream at night and wake up thinking it was real or true? There have been times that my dreams have
been so real that I woke up with residuals of the dream. For example, I once
dreamed that I was running in a race. I was running at top speed and endurance,
and the sweat was pouring down my face. In my dream, I wiped my face and was
breathing frantically for air. All of a
sudden, I woke up from the dream.
Sitting
up quickly in my bed, I looked around to reassure myself of where I was: In my
bed and in my bedroom in my house.
Relieved, I laid back down, only to realize that I was sweating
profusely. Not only that, I had beads of
perspiration on my hand, where in my dream, I had wiped my face. I know; this is too much information, but I
have to give the proper visual to make my point.
Baffled,
I spent the entire day thinking, how could I have been actually running in my
dream? Well, I know that I was not
running, but the power and strength of my dream woke me up to think that I had
run, and the sweat was there to prove it.
In
our society today, we hear of so many things to break our hearts or make us
feel sad. It seems that there are so
many issues surrounding us daily that it can often make things feel like it’s
just really no use. We may even have big
dreams for ourselves, and somehow along the way, those dreams fizzle away.
I began this topic by talking about Jesse
Owens. Anyone who has read anything
about Jesse Owens will know that he had no reason to dream. Owens lived in a time when dreams for a Black
man in America were extremely hard to reach.
Jesse Owens was an awesome track and field athlete. He was at one time considered the fastest man
in the world, based on his performance at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin,
Germany.
Jesse
Owens accomplishments were many, and there were numerous obstacles he had to
overcome to ever compete and win in an Olympic competition. Even before he stepped foot on European soil
to compete, Owens had already won so many battles. Born the son of a sharecropper in Alabama,
the mere fact that he was talented enough to go to college at Ohio State was
tremendous for a young Black boy farmer from Alabama. Then to win so many track
competitions and break records at the collegiate level was even more
spectacular in a very segregated time in history.
However,
Jesse Owens did it. He is often quoted when it comes to dreams and
determination. Who knew the dream of a little boy who could run really fast
would take him all the way to Germany one day to be named the fastest man on
earth at that time? That is why I try my
best to always remember, it’s not the dream that dies, it is our own
determination to make the dream happen that dies within us.
I
am reminded of a wonderful song by John Lennon called “Imagine”. In the lyrics, Lennon states, “You may say
that I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one…” Each of us have many dreams within us. Some
dreams we have carried since we were a child, just as Jesse Owen’s dream. Some dreams may be for our children, spouses,
family, or friends. Whatever the dream,
the key to it happening is within
us. When we put those three D’s ( Determination, Dedication, and Discipline) that
Jesse Owen’s stated with the dream, then we too, can wake up sweating from the
reality of it happening in our lives. We can actually feel it happening, and know that it is a part
of us. Don’t give up on a dream. Let people say that you are a dreamer, but I
am sure you are not the only one.
Dr.
Sunshine 68
August
8, 2013
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