Never Give Up On Your Dreams!

An acquaintance recently sent me this moving story about someone who in spite of great obstacles kept his dream alive. You may have already seen it and dismissed it as it is going around the Internet however stop a second and do read it as it makes a very interesting point.

Paul Potts was raised in England, by his bus driver father, and mother who was a cashier. He loved singing in the school choir but was shy and because of this his talent were overlooked.

Paul was a bit overweight and was bullied in school to the point that he had no self-confidence at all.  It was a tough neighbourhood so he never told anyone his love for opera or he would have been bullied even more. His passion became public only because he accepted a dare from friends to enter a local karaoke competition dressed as Pavarotti. His friends thought it would be funny to see him fumbling on stage, but the laughter stopped as soon as Paul started to sing.

He became a bit confident after this performance and entered a local television contest winning enough money to pay for more singing lessons in Italy, where he actually sang in front of his idol, Pavarotti. Pavarotti was impressed with Paul, and urged him to continue his studies, but that did not happen.

Shortly after his return from Italy Paul had appendicitis and they found a tumour on one of his adrenal glands. He had no medical insurance so he had to sell his car to pay for the operation meaning he then had to bicycle 15 miles to his “day job” as a salesman at a car phone warehouse, and work 13 hour days just to feed himself and his new wife. In 2003, Paul had more bad luck when he was knocked off his cycle. He had a broken collarbone and whiplash and this caused him even more financial difficulties. He stopped singing for 4 years. By 2007, he was 30,000 pounds in debt, living in poverty. One day, while surfing the net he found the “Britain’s Got Talent” site by accident. He filled out the form but was nervous so he let a coin decide if he should go in the competition or not.

He went on to win 100,000 pounds, left the car phone warehouse, took his wife on a holiday and paid off his debts. He ended up singing in front of the Queen and appearing on shows all over the world, including Oprah. He signed a million-dollar record deal and became number one in 17 countries selling over two million copies. Paul now sings around the world.

Why have I spent all this time telling you this? What if Paul Potts gave up on his dream? He would still be selling car phones – not that there is anything wrong with that if that is the profession you choose but Paul Potts loved singing and wanted to sing. Now let’s compare this to YOU.

How many times have you felt rejected, bullied, insecure, been in debt and had people laugh at your dreams? We all have just like Paul. Do you have health problems, are you overweight, are you too busy working at your job to branch out and do what you really want to do? What’s holding you back?

Let’s just take a minute and look at what is pulling your strings and keeping you locked into something that could be stifling your creativity. We are all sometimes really good at making excuses why we can’t do something due to our insecurities and fear. Fear keeps us locked into tight stressful anxious roles in life where we don’t often want to be. Ultimately though it is always our choice what direction we take in our lives.

This guy Paul never gave up on his dream and in the end he succeeded. So why should you give up on your dream? Do your friends support your dreams or do they dampen them? What about your family and your partner? Are you getting more negative feedback than positive? It takes courage and strength to make your dreams a reality but you can do it. All it takes is one flash of belief in yourself. This is called vision. What is your vision? What is your dream?

Life is short. Don’t talk about, don’t think about it, don’t meditate on it…just go out there and DO IT! Otherwise the danger is you will turn around one day and be 90 and never know whether you could do it or not? Looking back at what could have been is not fulfilling. If you never attempt to climb that ladder to the stars you will never know what was at the top and whether it really was fulfilling for you. Maybe this week, in some way, it’s time to take up that courage and dare to change those dreams into goals.