Two biographies that changed my thinking

There is a lot of inspiration in biographies. Two of them i recently read changed my thinking in terms of what it actually means to have a dream. These two books were Long walk to freedom, Nelson Mandela and also the biography of Walt Disney. What i discovered in reading about the stories of these two great men, is that your dreams can become a reality if you are willing to persist and lay everything on the line to achieve them

 "Everything we see around us today was but first an idea in someones mind, a thought, a dream."

96% of people have lost their dreams and have given up on them. We all grow up thinking about what we want our lives to look like, what we would love to do one day and who we want to become, but somehow somewhere things get a little distorted. We are taught to conform to societies ideas of who and what we should be. We know the trend, go to school, get good grades and thereafter go find a good job. Before you know it you are stuck living someone else's life, unhappy and frustrated.

Dreams are powerful things. They have the ability to set people free if backed with complete conviction and belief. Throughout history we have witnessed how great dreamers have changed the world.

Just over 40 years ago Martin Luther King Jr delivered one of the most powerful speeches to date. His I have a dream speech has forever lived on in the hearts of not only americans but people worldwide. He stood for equality and equal rights for all, unshaken in his faith and never deviated from his conviction. This conviction ignited thousands of people to fight for their freedom and stand up for what they believed in. He spoke with passion and conviction and you could feel his sincerity in every word! Are you this passionate about your dream?

Nelson Mandela is another great example of a man who had a big dream and changed the world. Even after spending 27 years in prison, he never wavered. He dreamed of a day where every man could have equal rights, regardless of race or gender. This dream at a time when it seemed virtually impossible to achieve, with all the odds stacked against him, yet nobody could convince him otherwise. He was prepared to die for his dream. His conviction inspired the world and changed a nation, setting its people free.

Walt Disney dreamt of a place where people could go to, young and old, where they could forget about all their problems, the happiest place on earth. He was consumed with his dream, even after being let go due to a “lack of imagination” he kept believing and never gave up.

There is power in a dream! Think about your life. What do you see?What do you want? What do you believe? Do not conform to what the world is telling you to become or what you can and cannot do. History has showed us that whatever the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve! Dream big!

Gary van Aswegen