THE POWER OF OUR DREAMS

A lady called me up, last evening. A known person had asked her to talk to me. She told me that she was a housewife, and came from an affluent business family. She always had a dream of starting a school for the ‘special children’, and thanks to the support and encouragement of her in-laws, she had now fulfilled her dream.

“Sir, the reason I have called you is,” this lady said from the other end, “that I need to improve my communication skills… You know, when I meet doctors, psychologists, school principals and parents, I experience discomfort… I need to build my self-confidence.”

“If you have identified your problem, you have already solved it half,” this is an old wisdom. This lady knew why she needed to improve her communication skills. So, I knew she had the right reasons to pursue her desire to communicate well…

Her dream was to run efficiently her school for ‘special children’. The desire to improve her communication skills was just a ‘need’ that she had to fulfill to achieve her major dream…

“Honestly, ma’am,” I said to the lady, “you do not need to join any institute to become a good communicator.” I continued, “all that is needed is: remain passionate about your dream… Be incredibly sincere, committed and focused… Have great patience, be gentle to people, speak from the heart and do not mislead… Be determined, be persistent… Do not try to ‘impress’, be brutally simple and straight…And, believe me, you will find enough self-confidence to carry through.”

The lady sent a huge sigh of relief… “I am so relieved sir,” she literally cried on the phone, “For some strange reasons, I have been carrying in my mind the fearful thought that I should be ‘self-confident’ first in order to follow my dreams!”

“Ma’am, it is other way around: You need to follow your dreams in order to become self-confident in life,” I re-iterated to the lady.

Moses was mortifyingly afraid to confront the mighty Pharaoh of Egypt. Moses’ dream was to free his fellow-Hebrews from the slavery of the Egyptian King. He felt incredibly strong for the cause… but, the thought of challenging the mighty Pharaoh sent shivers through his spine… “I will not be able to speak before the King, O Lord,” Moses bemoaned. 

“I command to you,” Jehovah God had thundered, “Go before the Pharaoh… You will know how and what to speak!”

The story of the Old Testament wouldn’t have been complete without this important chapter in the Holy Bible – ‘Exodus’. Moses had to ‘feel  his fear and do it any way’ in order to lead his oppressed lot to the Promised Land of God.

It took forty years to wade through the wilderness… It took a mighty heart. A mighty dream to help withstand the toughest tests along the Great Exodus…

If the dream is strong, 

the heart will know how to express 

with a bull-dog faith! 

The Barrister Gandhi was timid… Even after passing the Law exam in England, he was unable to stand and speak when his turn to came to speak in the court. It was a petty matter to argue on… Yes, Gandhi tells us how he felt: “When I stood to speak, my heart sank into my boots!”

Gandhi was so embarrassed that he returned the fees to his client and never ever returned to practice…

And, look at the irony… Look at the mighty confidence of the man… who, like Moses, confronted the mighty British Empire to demand freedom for his oppressed folk…

Dream was so strong, so piercing that nobody had to train Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the otherwise a shy soul, how to stand up and speak!

That’s the power of our dreams… That’s the magic and mystery…

“All that is needed is: remain passionate about your dream… Be incredibly sincere, committed and focused…”  Last evening, I had told this to the lady on the phone.

The way to our ‘Promised Land’ is only through our ‘wilderness’…

Let’s be ready!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Mukesh Ahuja