On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Junior stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial looking out over thousands of troubled Americans who had gathered in the name of civil rights and uttered his now famous words, "I have a dream . . ." It was a speech that changed the course of history.

I believe everybody in life has a dream. Everybody is different and has their own individual, personal dream that they want to pursue and achieve. Some people achieve these dreams and some people do not achieve these dreams. Everybody is unique as Fublilius Syrus says “it matters not what you are thought to be, but what you are.” We are individuals and individuality matters, don’t be afraid to be different.

            Everybody I have ever spoken to, from young to old has a dream. That dream might be to play for a top premiership football team or to be the best mum in the world; it may be to get a new job or going away on a holiday. Some people’s dreams are big and some people’s dreams are small. I want to encourage you to dream bigger than ever before and think upon those things that you have always wanted to accomplish in life.

I believe that if your dream looks achievable, than you are not dreaming big enough. I love to go to places that are big, e.g. huge football stadiums or even to sit on top of a mountain and look at the view. I like to go to big places to help me dream bigger and widen my imagination.

I love to speak to people about their dreams and aspirations and ask them questions to make them think. I love to help them find the answers and build towards their dreams. But first let’s get clear on what a dream is. I have met many people who have achieved big dreams and also many people who have never achieved anything. If you want to dream big you need to hang around with people alike. Too many people are negative and these people are not the people to hang around with if you want to develop. Find people who inspire you, people you may look up to, and definitely people who want to develop too. You need to surround yourself with positive people.

But first what is a dream? Many people call all sorts of things a dream. For example day dreams, idealistic dreams, romantic dreams, bad dreams, material dreams or career dreams etc. Many of these dreams are just short term ambitions and many of these types of dreams distract us from achieving our true dreams and unleashing our potential. Too often we jump from one thing to the next without fulfilling what we set out to achieve in the first instance.

If these are not valid dreams worthy of a person’s life, then what are? John Maxwell3 states a dream is “an inspiring picture of the future that energizes your mind, will, and emotions, empowering you to do everything you can to achieve it.”

 

Some questions to ask yourself about discovering your true dream:

 

·         What is it that stirs up a passion inside you?

·         What is it that keeps you awake at night?

·         What is it that you always start thinking about?

·         What is the desire within your heart?

 

What you thought about yesterday will make you today, what you think about today will make you tomorrow. Your dream is your blue print to life, so let’s get it right.