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Follow Your Dream+ _& B) ^) `& e
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( e e* X6 P7 x) T( }, |% }4 C. o$ dI have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. 5 ]: W2 v' z. n1 T6 U" T6 d
He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money ! s: c5 ?4 x) H+ K* b
for youth at risk programs. 4 Y- Z# U! y- e
8 ^* R* T7 V% V+ o9 aThe last time I was there he introduced me by saying, 'I want to tell you
8 Q* y# T7 R" b5 L$ O) _+ \$ n* \why I let Jack use my house. It all goes back to a story about a young
r3 q- n9 f, Q! U$ t* mman who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable
& X8 B Q+ ]) ?) Q4 V, M+ V* K0 Vto stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training
+ m* y2 W" k0 s5 W3 [+ ~$ f* Thorses. As a result, the boy's high school career was continually interrupted. " G) K4 A- W2 ^ X% r
When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted ( }# G5 u0 m" j3 b
to be and do when he grew up. 5 m7 Q8 R, K" y" m
' S5 P/ z5 G' P" M2 Y1 M'That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday
0 p& S% b9 B; Powning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even 4 y$ y( E' s v$ v
drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, 6 I3 T0 {( A- G0 A Q
the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot $ H4 r3 k$ q4 }
house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.
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'He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he 9 K1 K% W( I. \+ Y! F/ A
handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back.
& g0 n6 S5 u: ]0 B0 @On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after
" i7 l1 Z3 Y* {class.'
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'The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked,
% q2 N" d+ f7 C0 g, Z( M' X`Why did I receive an F?' ) p. I5 H7 R7 ?9 M H# J& r0 x2 L
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'The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you.
7 t( q! J$ g0 G1 [0 e" }# H" bYou have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources.
& i; P- Y3 y0 ~! _, g; N( j) hOwning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land.
6 o0 d0 a' o; O% T1 bYou have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you'll have to
& b5 K- e3 }1 ?pay large stud fees. There's no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher
4 @* c& v* V' badded, `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will
+ M( |1 M7 h4 d/ }8 Freconsider your grade.’ 6 \+ U. A" L. {; {
+ T, Q' H5 U0 m+ R'The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father $ ^+ }4 o$ K/ |0 w {5 x
what he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to make up your
2 b6 V2 c( Z3 _* k$ fown mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for
8 K) R; T9 D; yyou.’
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'Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same
, S9 Q+ d$ E; X4 I5 Cpaper, making no changes at all. He stated, `You can keep the F and I'll
& E9 L6 G1 C+ E. ^( Y# q# Ckeep my dream.''
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Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, 'I tell you this story
, j/ J, v# b9 N5 x4 L& U; T/ Ybecause you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of * Y- c6 d5 O3 n' q
my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the
" o) A+ T9 B7 a. T1 W% e0 v' rfireplace.' He added, 'The best part of the story is that two summers ago 1 T9 M1 N/ A6 I
that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.'
/ k7 e9 i7 {- C* a" V: x& PWhen the teacher was leaving, he said, `Look, Monty, I can tell you this
6 w" b) l& r2 K2 N+ H3 `now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During
1 B9 P& E- b7 r6 i6 ~those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption
1 Q" Q' s$ @8 ]4 ?( i% M- }9 v9 fnot to give up on yours.’' 9 V! A# [5 ~. }( c
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Don't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what. |
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