Do you remember a time when anything was possible? Before you had heard of the word can’t and dreams weren’t limited to those images you slept with? One day you wanted to be going to space, the next day fighting fires and the day after you were standing on pinnacles. As adults there’s people who continued to think like this as adults. There was no ‘can’t’ in the language of Sir Ed when he would be the first to climb Everest, nor was there a ‘can’t’ when Mark ingles would be the first double-leg amputee to re-climb the same route, they both saw opportunity and sunk their pick-axe into the ice. There is no can’t in the vision of all our fellow New Zealanders who transform their dreams to transform lives and rewrite the record books. When we truly believe we can achieve awesome things.
These heroes are everyday people who chose to live in the pursuit of excellence. They deserve huge admiration, but let’s remember we are all born with the same hours in a days, days of the weeks, weeks of the year and a pick & mix of challenge and opportunity, how we embrace these comes down to perception.
As a 7 year-old I remember racing the three-legged race at primary school. I was paired with Robert who was as short and round as I was tall and skinny, the perfect couple. The advice we were whispered enabled the win and a discovery that would become the backbone to the following 23 years of dreams – “slow and steady wins the race”. Other racers focused on being the fastest, they lost control of themselves and the outcome. Others focused on being be coolest, come’on it’s a three-legged race, no mater how hard one tries they’re not going to look cool. In life there are times when we may not feel that cool, like when we have to study or train rather than go to a party, but know number of parties beats the realisaztion of a vision.
What do we see? What do we live for? What were our dreams? Are these dreams something that contributed to where we are today? Or have they been hidden under the blanket of perceived expectation, perceived reality, and that little voice we so often listen to?
As the jet-stream of 2014 propels us to a New Year what would a slow and steady approach and a belief in our dreams rather than concern in image see us achieve? It is the belief of the human spirit than can trump logic see individuals dreaming big to achieve more.
