Kitabı oxu: «Reaching for the Stars»

1. Dream, Dream, Dream

As I said, I’m always dreaming (even when I’m supposed to be paying attention to something else, which is most of the time). I also have a BIG imagination too. When I was little I was always thinking about what I wanted to be when I got older. I grew up with fantastic foster parents and an ever-changing number of foster children who were passing through in between other homes. So our house was always noisy with children playing. Nanny Sheila (my foster mother) would often be telling us off for jumping on chairs or fighting with each other. And there was always lots and lots of laughter.

The only problem was, the time came when I was always the oldest child in the house because I ended up staying the longest (about eighteen years!). So, as I grew up, I began to have less and less in common with the other children. And not having anyone my own age to share things with meant I was happy to stay up in my top-floor room and be by myself. I was quite a shy person anyway, so I felt comfortable with this. Besides, writing stuff down and making up stories allowed me to create my own characters. I realized this was what I enjoyed doing most. I’d run in from school, watch a programme (or three) on TV, then get stuck into writing stories. Even so, at this time, I hadn’t fully decided that I wanted to become a writer. I wanted to become the next Madonna and then perhaps a writer!

So what about your dreams?

You might want to manage a department store, train as a nursery nurse or even run the hurdles in the next Olympics!

There’s nothing wrong with reaching for the stars because if what you catch is the moon – you haven’t done too badly!

Really, Really, Really Wanting It

I suppose the first thing to think about is, ‘How important is this dream to me?’ Because whether or not your dream will come true can depend on how much you feel you want it. The more you want something, the more you’re willing to work that bit harder for it. This can also be said for your attitude towards your dream or goal. If your attitude is serious enough you are more likely to be committed to making it become a reality, right?

You could say that achieving a goal is like learning to play darts. It’s not the easiest thing to hit the bull’s-eye. First you need to learn the right way to hold the dart, the best place to put your fingers and give a good aim at the target. It can then take time to learn the technique depending on how often you practise and how quickly you learn. But if it’s something you really, really, really want, you will definitely learn faster than someone who doesn’t want it that badly. You know, the person who says, ‘Well, I suppose it would be okay to hit the bull’s-eye three times in a row…but I’m not really that bothered.’ Whilst it’s your dream! I know this is an odd example, but hopefully you can see what I am trying to get at.

Being Prepared

Whether you’re organizing a surprise party or cooking a meal, a certain amount of planning has to go into it. For the meal, you need to make sure you have a whole lot of different things to hand, like the correct ingredients, crockery, utensils…So something as big as YOUR DREAM also deserves a certain amount of planning.

You need to be fully prepared if you want your dream to come true.

Putting together a list is a good way to start. It doesn’t have to be a really long list, just the key things you want to achieve. So if it is your dream to open your own restaurant, your list may look a bit like this:

Research online/books/talk to local restaurant owners

Get some practical experience in a restaurant

Look at finances and put together a business plan

After I left school, I suppose you could say I was a bit greedy, because I had to have one and a half dreams. I adored writing but I also loved the idea of helping people. Training to be a doctor was out of the question because I was way too squeamish and could not bear the sight of blood. I decided instead to study to become a psychotherapist and help people who have suffered things like a breakdown or an unhappy childhood. However, I didn’t have enough GCSEs to go into that field and, like many, I’d ‘had it’ with school. But I knew that if I wanted to help people as a psychotherapist, I needed qualifications, and that meant going on to sixth form college.

The only good thing about it was that it wasn’t school. It would be in a different building, so it still felt like a great big adven-ture. I was excited and scared all at the same time. I was embarking on something really new. And it can feel that way for you too when you are about to face something almost unknown. This fear of the unknown: you don’t know what to expect and you have no idea how things will pan out. Even at this early stage, our fears can get out of control and stop us from going any further than our lists! But don’t give into this.

Don’t let the fear stop you at the first hurdle.