In the Beginning
All dreams have a birth date — a point of beginning — a time when ideas and feelings combine with intent and potential to create a possibility ripe for exploration! Dreams are necessary! They drive innovation! They open doors of change! They challenge established protocol! They build platforms of opportunity! They alter perspective!
Yes, without dreams, we teeter on the brink of destruction. Dreams are the catalysts that allow us to adapt to the ever-changing world in which we live. Without dreams, we see only what exists in front of us at any given time! Without dreams, we may be convinced that the struggle we face this day will be the best we ever see in life! Without dreams, we might be sure that the joy experienced this day will likely never be matched or exceeded at any time in our future! Without dreams, the mediocrity in which we find ourselves mired this day may appear our only path to travel. Without dreams life simply happens TO us and we just allow ourselves to be tossed about on its waves of uncertainty. Without dreams, we perish!
I had a dream once that proves the points just mentioned.
I recall on the day after Christy's death twenty years ago, that I wanted to establish a scholarship in her memory dedicated to providing support for students planning to enter the field of education. From the moment I made my intent known, I received input from multiple sources. Strangely enough, some of the input was negative. Several folks sought to discourage me from establishing a scholarship saying that the involvement and details would likely be too much for me to handle and might prove burdensome. Well, I was a bit confused to say the least. Regardless, I followed through on my intent, made a few calls to the University of North Texas, discovered the minimum amount necessary to set up an endowed scholarship and wrote the check — I didn't see the "difficulty" or "burden" about which I had been warned!
In December of 1989 and again in December of 1990, I ran the Dallas White Rock Marathon in order to raise money to bolster the scholarship fund and eventually boosted the total endowment to around $20,000! Scholarships have been awarded each year based on the interest received on the small fund set up to honor Christy's memory. Those funds have provided a modicum of financial support for future educators each year since the beginning of that dream.
Celebration of Perpetuity
Recently, my daughter and I attended the annual University of North Texas Scholarship Donor/Recipient Reception in Denton, TX. Kacie attended the first one with me during the fall of 1989 when she was seven — the event that marked the recognition of the first recipient of the Christy Hundley Memorial Scholarship. Kacie had been unable to attend others throughout the years and with this being the twentieth anniversary of her mom's death, her heart was set on attending with me. It was a very special evening for both of us!
We arrived early and visited in anticipation of meeting this year's recipient. As always, I anxiously awaited the opportunity to meet the new "teacher to be" and I could tell that Kacie was as excited as I! When the young lady made her way to our table, it was as if we had known her for years! We enjoyed lively conversation, discussed her aspirations to teach third graders and marveled at the turns her life had taken causing her path to cross ours and vice versa. We had a delightful time!
When the evening ended both Kacie and I felt a sense of gratitude for the chance to have played a small part in the lives of so many over the years, knowing that countless students have been touched by the dedication displayed by each recipient. We basked in the warmth of accomplishment knowing that Christy's love for students and education has been and will continue to be perpetuated long after we are gone from this earth.
A Surprise in the Mix
As much fun as Kacie and I had visiting with the 2008-2009 scholarship recipient, I must say that the most unexpected surprise came when a young man by the name of Given Kachepa — a senior at UNT — spoke to the assembled crowd. I had no idea that his speech would move me the way it did! I was mesmerized from the moment he took the podium!
Perhaps you recall the stories several years ago related to a traveling boys choir from the African country of Zambia and how the boys were enslaved by unscrupulous handlers whose empty promises duped church congregations all over the country. I cannot do his personal story justice in the brief space I have here, so I encourage you to visit www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/march/13.30.html and read the article detailing the amazing journey of this incredible young man!
I hung on every word he spoke that evening! I could only imagine — and then not very well — the torment and heartache this young man has experienced in his life. Yet, as much as my heart broke for his pain, it rejoiced in his good fortune as well! You see, an angel of a family — the Shepherds in Colleyville, TX — stepped in at a pivotal point in this young man's life and breathed hope and healing into his soul! They took him in as one of their own and the rest — as they say — is history!
Not only is Given a scholarship recipient of the University of North Texas, he is the beneficiary of something far greater than mere money can provide! He is surrounded by the power of dreams fulfilled!
Dreams Give Life
That evening as I drove home and in the days since, I have contemplated the power of dreams. Dreams, our heart's desires, fuel everything good and right about the world! Imagine the world without Martin Luther King Jr's. speech, "I Have a Dream!" Where would we be today if that speech had never been delivered in the first place? Where would we be if he never had the dream to begin with? Where would we be if he had simply kept the dream to himself? I can only speculate on those points; however, a part of me is firmly convinced that our world would not be a better place as a result.
Dreams are powerful! They give life to LIFE! Dreams are worth contemplating! They are worth writing down! They are worth sharing! They are worth pursuing! They are worth attaining! Dreams are worth EVERYTHING!
Three Components of Dreams Fulfilled
As I have ruminated on the power of dreams, I have discovered a simple formula that — if applied — can do much to assist us in the realization of our dreams.
First, dreams present an Opportunity for us to contemplate the possible! So often we scurry around in frantic pursuit of that which only satisfies the immediate. As important as some of those targets are to our survival in the moment, they do little to focus our attention on the possibilities that life has to offer! Dreams present us with a chance to step outside the normal, the routine, the mundane and catch a glimpse of life as it could be! Perhaps one of my all-time favorite quotes related to the opportunities presented by dreams is from Robert F. Kennedy when he said, "Some men see things as they are and say why. I see things that never were and say why not!"
Second, dreams demand Action in order to take effect! A dream without a definitive decision to take the necessary step or steps to make it a reality is just pie-in-the-sky rhetoric! Action takes on many forms — making a call; writing a letter; asking a question; opening a door; picking up a sign; presenting a speech; stepping aside; stepping up; stepping out; stepping back; singing a song; lending a hand; strategizing; talking; listening – you get the picture! Dreams without action quickly become nightmares!
Third, dreams require Follow-through or they become short-lived! We can seize the opportunity a dream presents, spring into action in a flurry of enthusiasm and without consistent follow-through, our dream will ultimately end up on the scrap heap along with countless other well-intentioned thoughts that never quite made it out of the gate! Follow-through is actually the process of choosing to choose over and over again! It is the commitment to take action consistently and persistently on a daily basis; for without follow-through our dreams are in danger of becoming empty shells — holding nothing, supporting nothing, pointing the way to . . . nothing!
Dream On!
As I pause to reflect on dreams this day I am grateful for many things. First, I am glad I refused to listen to those who told me that establishing a scholarship was too burdensome. I'm thinking that the burden would have come had I NOT started the scholarship. Second, I am thankful that Given followed the courage of his dreams for a better life and that the Shepherds acted on the courage of their convictions. The world is and will continue to be a better place because of their stands! Third, I am encouraged to know that dreams live on in the hearts of people just like you and me; for without the emergence of dreams, hope would be only a memory!
Today, I urge you to dream on! Get in touch with your dreams for a better life; a better job; an answer to a particular problem that plagues children; a way to support that charity you so dearly love; the desire to make a difference in the lives of others! What opportunities present themselves to you today in the form of dreams? What action or actions are within your power to initiate today? What follow-through steps are needed in order to solidify your dream's chances of realization? Even if you have cast your dreams aside, go over to that heap, sift through the pile, pick up your dream, dust it off and make it more than a dream! Make it a reality!
Until next time . . . Peace!
Mark
Copyright 2009 Mark E. Hundley
