This young man was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable to stable training horses.
One day at school, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.
That night he wrote a SEVEN-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch.
He wrote about his dream in great detail.
And he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.
He put a great deal of his heart into the project.
Yet two days later, when he received his paper back, that read a LARGE RED F, and a note,
"See me after class”.
The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked,
‘Why did I receive an F?’
The teacher said, “This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you.
- You have no money.
- You come from an itinerant family.
- You have no resources.
There’s no way you could ever do it."
Then the teacher added, ‘If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.”
The boy went home and thought about it long and hard.
He asked his father what he should do.
His father said, ‘Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this.However, I think it is a very important decision for you.’
Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all.
He stated ---
“You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.”
That boy (his name is Monty) is now grown up and he says, “I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.”
He adds, “The best part of the story is that two summers ago that SAME schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.”
When the teacher was leaving, he said, “Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours.”
SO WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS STORY?
Similarly, in your life's journey, there will always be people
...who will stick a finger in your face...
...and tell you you're no good
...that you CAN'T DO THIS OR THAT
That is when having a Mentor that supports and empowers you is so important.
Yes, you can ignore the naysayers...
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