You Have a Dream

Joe Mather
Originally uploaded by Mark Halski

In The Wright Brothers: A Biography, there's a scene where a man is trying to make the case that most people do things in order to get rich. Of the Wright brothers he asks, "Would they have worked all those years trying to fly just for their health?" He later reasons that it was the chance to make a fortune that kept them working so tirelessly to find a way for man to fly.

I have a dream. I'm going to guess that you do too. It could be anything. A way to use your talents to their full potential. A desire for change. A search for a solution to a complex problem or issue. Maybe it is your curiosity in things that has led you to believe something is possible, no matter how impossible the world says it is. One thing is for sure though. You have a dream.

Many things keep you from even attempting your dreams. Doubt, fear, and the word impossible come to mind as the usual suspects when it comes to detours to dreams.

Until the Wright brothers came along, human flight was impossible. At least in the eyes of the world. Even after the Wright brothers had found a way for humans to fly, they spent the next ten years having a difficult time convincing the world it could change the course of history. So even after flight became possible, the world was convinced it was irrelevant and useless.

Understand this: Even if you begin to make strides in a dream come true, there will be those who will dismiss it's value.

Some of the most common arguments naysayers will make to persuade you to dismiss your dream will be, "You won't be able to make much money doing that.", or, "The competition is very high in that field. It's very hard to break through." They have the very same mindset as that man explaining what he thought motivated Orville and Wilbur Wright to invest in their dream of flying. They have fear. They have doubt. They believe it's impossible.

Orville Wright was later told about the conversation and asked, "Do you think the expectation of profit is the main incentive to inventors?" He didn't believe so and doubted that men like Alexander Graham Bell, Edison, and others were chasing their dreams simply because they could make a profit. He also pointed out that had he and his brother been so concerned about making a fortune, they would have tried something where the "chances for success were brighter."

You have a dream. It could be anything. It may be impossible, but only until you come along.