This weekend I have been
reduced to sitting down the most comfortably as possible to
alleviate the back pain that I’m experiencing. I have been watching some
television: the opening of the Olympics, my regular Saturday programs on PBS, I
also have done some reading on the Internet… But then I started to get really
bored! All this sitting down was getting to me :( ... So I decided to go through some ‘papers’ that have been accumulating and
some more that I have had for quite a while. Well the fact that I’m confined to
a chair made it an enjoyable task that I had been putting off for a long time!! In these papers and pamphlets
and documents and newspaper cuttings (Yes! I still do that), I found this
little clipping from an old SELF magazine that was dated 1994. This very short
essay was written by Paolo Coelho and the title of it is ‘DREAM’. The Webster’s
Third New International Dictionary defines this word as such: “A visionary creation of the imagination.”
This is what he had to say and
reflect upon about the way we decide to live our lives, “We know intuitively
that there is a life that we long to have, a dream we’ve harboured – sometimes
since childhood. But too often we decide to follow a path that is not really
our own. One that others have set for us. We forget that whichever way we go,
the price is the same: in both cases we will pass through difficult and happy
moments, hours of self-investment and many complex situations. But when we are
living our dream, the difficulties we encounter make sense.”
He goes on to write this: “You
may have heard the parable of the three men labouring in a field of rocks. Each
is asked what he is doing.
- The first man says, ‘Can’t
you see? I’m breaking rocks!’
- The second man replies,’
Can’t you see? I’m earning my salary!’
- The third man answers, his
eyes gleaming with enthusiasm, ‘Can’t you see? I’m building a cathedral!’
This lovely story, which my
mother told me when I was a child, illustrates both the necessity of hard work
in realising a dream as well as the need to keep the vision in your mind’s eye
–- even when others don’t see or understand it.”
He then concludes: “…the dream is the start of
something greater, something impels us to make daring decisions. And it’s true
that the person who pursues a dream takes many risks. But the person who does
not, runs risks that are even greater.”
When I had finished reading
Paolo Coelho’s text, I was reminded WHY I had kept it in the first place. Of
course it spoke to me! I don’t know how long I’ve had it, but it still has an
impact on me today. As a person but also as an ESL teacher. I am living my
dream! I am being true to myself and my passion. I’m still teaching but more
especially, I’m sharing what I know with persons that really want to learn and
profit from my experience. What more could I wish for!!!
So as YOU start this new
session as an ESL student, whether you be a beginner or a more advanced
student, take the time to focus on your dream and on making it a reality! Of
course you will encounter some tough times ahead (and there might have been
some rough ones that have passed too) but there will also be some great moments
of discovery and achievement… WHY? Because you are working on your dream!!!
To finish, I just would like
to make a point and come back to the beginning of this little essay: I will
remind you that it is the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics and all the young
athletes that are in Sochi today had a dream, didn’t they? NOW look where that
dream has taken them!!! And to boot, they are living their dream with others
that have had the same vision! Can you just imagine the energy irradiating from
these hopes and wishes. They are all winners!!!
NOTE :
You will find the complete book THE ALCHIMIST at the following link from Spark Notes. It also offers a complete analysis of this author's grounbreaking work and that has now gained world-wide recognition.
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