Sky is The Limit

Ritesh was studying in seventh standard. He was well aware that his poor father had difficult time making the ends meet with his little income, still somehow managed to put him in a public school. After school hours Ritesh tried to earn money to fund his education by doing odd jobs and working as a waiter in a roadside restaurant at night.

One day the English teacher asked the class to write an essay on “My Dream”. As Ritesh walked back from school, he kept thinking about the topic and got quite charged up about it. After work, he started writing the essay in night.

“My dream is to build a 200 acre farm which will have 50 fine horses. It will have a lavish farmhouse in the center in which I will live.”, he wrote.

Then as he went on writing further, his imagination started taking wings and he described the farm in vivid detail. He covered the design of the farm and the breed and specialty of the horses. The essay was already ten pages long, but he was going on with his writing. He got so absorbed in narrating his dream that he could not sleep that night.

Next day, he submitted the essay to the teacher with pride and enthusiasm. His anticipation was that his essay would stand apart from all other students, the teacher will give him good grades. However, when the teacher returned the assignment, he was surprised to see that he was failed. His eyes were filled with tears and he went to the teacher to ask what was wrong with his essay.

The teacher said, “You know you are from a poor family, even daily bread in a challenge for you. In spite of doing jobs after school, you find it hard to earn enough money for school fees every month. How can you think about a big farm like this? Can you afford to buy even one horse? I am giving you one more chance to re-write your essay. This time write about something that is feasible for you to achieve. You should not have such unrealistic dreams that are impossible to fulfill.”

Ritesh was completely devastated. He could not go to his daily jobs that day. He slowly walked back to home and narrated the disappointing episode to his father.

His father said, “Son, you are the sole owner of your dreams. No one else has right to decide what you can or cannot dream. Dream as big as you want, and make every possible effort to realize your dreams.”

This affirmation acted like magic for his confidence. Next day, Ritesh took the same essay to the teacher and said, “I accept the grades that you have given me, but I cannot compromise with my dreams just to get a better grade.”

When it comes to dreams - sky is the limit.

Your dreams should not be limited by your age, sex, caste, religion, and status. The belief in your own capabilities and potential should be the real factor that determines your dreams. Dream big, else you are underestimating your own potential.