Of great men and dreamers of new dreams

Sometimes, after a lot of effort and sacrifice, some dreams do come true. But when they do, it is not an end in itself. As is often the case, when one dream is realised, we set our sights a little higher. Ask the billionaire who has done well for himself. He has fame and fortune and has a beautiful wife to boot. When asked why he continues to work so hard, The Donald retorts: ‘To keep score!’

 Ask the greatest pugilist of all time. In what was his stage, Muhammad Ali made a name for himself both inside and outside the ring. He was the youngest heavyweight champion of all time. He took a good punch, danced like a butterfly and stung like a bee. He rumbled in the jungle, thrilled in Manila and did what he did best. But why did Ali, the three time world heavyweight champion of the world and sportsman of the century, not hang up his boots until it was rather late?

Ask the little boy from Gary, Indiana. In what was his stage, Michael Jackson captured the imagination of the world in a way that no other entertainer had before him, and maybe like no other ever will. His music was simply amazing. It transcended age, culture, colour or creed. He popularised the Moonwalk and his dance was an art in itself. There will never be another MJ but even he, we know, stayed the course longer than he should have.

Ask the talented young man from Trelwany, Jamaica who is without a doubt, the the greatest sprinter of all time. A five-time world champion and six-time Olympic gold medallist, the world's fastest man is a gift to athletics! Usain Bolt is so fast yet he is still in his prime. It had been said, that the Olympic track in London would be the ‘red carpet to his greatest athletic dream!’ With bated breath, in the greatest stage of all, the world saw the Lightning Bolt inscribe his name amongst the greats! Can the world's fastest man pull the same feat at  Rio 2016?

Ask Barack Obama, who four years ago, captured the imagination of the world. Not only did he make his countrymen believe in hope again, but he also made the world believe. An orator par excellence, the 44th American President has graced some of the world’s cities and delivered exceptional speeches. Barack Obama captures the essence of what it means to hope and to dream. It is little wonder, that after a tough election, he hopes that his country will believe in him again on Tuesday 6th.

There are those few, like these men, who dream of greatness. They dream, they toil and sacrifice a lot in order to see their most cherished dreams come true. But dreams, as we all know, are not always lofty. They are not a preserve of a few. In fact, most of our dreams are very modest in comparison to these men's. Some of us just dream of being good men, while others dream  simply of being of service to others.

What we all share  though is the belief that with hard work, sacrifice and conviction, the possible can be made real. And when some dreams come true, we celebrate. But we are never complacent because we know, because we understand, that when a man stops dreaming, he dies a little. When one dream is realised, the bar is therefore set a little higher and our sights are set even higher. We dream anew!


Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that can't fly - L. Hughes