The Only Thing I Have Is A Dream

Dedication

I dedicate this book to you who dare to be different, to fall in love with your dreams and fight for them till the end. You are not alone.

Chapter 1

We are all looking up to something better

It is the inherent nature of man to be expectant. It is particularly the expectation for a better day tomorrow that keeps us struggling through today with all its difficulties and challenges. Giving up on this expectation, is giving up on who we are and how long can we walk on in life without the hope and trust however little that things will work out for the better?

The expectation for a better day tomorrow is in the hearts of all of us and as we work to actualize it in our lives we call it by different names. Some of us call it dreams, goals, ambitions while others prefer visions and targets but we are all referring to the same thing; the hope and faith that if we work following a particular methodology we will finally get to that better tomorrow that we so much long for.

My first encounter with dreams happened when I was so young. When it mattered least about what preconceptions of 'reality' existed and most about what that little voice in my heart which I was one with said and desired.

As such the word 'dream' brings to mind many memories of my lower primary school. In particular those days when my class teacher back then, Mrs. Kaguri, would walk to class and ask, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" As I recall we all raised our hands with a moving enthusiasm and flicked our fingers vigorously to get her attention.

Normally she would start from the front desk and have everyone say what they wanted to be "when they grew up". Quite expected no one ever lacked an answer to this question. As I recall most of us wanted to be doctors, lawyers, bankers, pilots, lecturers, engineers, presidents while a few wanted to be teachers and policemen.

What I admire most is how we proclaimed our dreams with our heads high in the air, engulfed in a firm authentic confidence. Many have called this adorable expression of our dreams and expectations in life a bottomless naivety; I call it a true desecrated reflection of who we really are; expectant beings.

I however best feel the consuming power of a lived dream when I think of the story of Agnes Gonxha, an Albanian girl who at the age of 12 wanted to become a nun and help the needy in Africa. She strongly took the entire trek to her dream until she was finally living it a decade later in serving the poor in Calcutta India as Mother Teresa.

I further think of the story of Martin Luther King Jr., a church minister, who had a dream that one day his country would rise above the vice of racism and treat all men with equality. It was a distant dream given the prevailing conditions of the day then. It was however one close to heart and he put himself to task in whatever little ways he could to see it become a reality. It is largely through his efforts and those of his allies that saw the end of systematic segregation in his country which was no mean achievement.

If anything such and many other similar stories only prove to us that dreams are not mere fantasies and wild creations of our minds. They are a reality that we can work to realize and experience.

When I think of our dreams

In their purest forms our dreams are expressions of the desires held in our hearts of hearts. They are visions of the world that we would like to live in at some future time and leave behind as we finally leave the face of the earth. They are our inherently accepted assignments to make the story of humanity better in service and in line with our calling in life. Our dreams are such a convincing expression of the faith that we have in the capacity of man to achieve both the imaginable and unimaginable and make life amazingly beautiful.