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Beating the Odds

Working on a Dream

“Don’t let life discourage you. Everyone who got where they are started from where they were.” — quoted by Gary Pritchard

Are you working on a dream?

From minor-league baseball players hoping to reach the majors, to high school athletes working to win a scholarship, to people just hoping to find a job, we’re all working on a dream.

Jon Stewart now hosts The Daily Show, one of the top comedy shows in all of television, and Thursday night he welcomed Bruce Springsteen as a guest. He thanked Springsteen for the inspiration to work on his particular dream.

The moment was electrifying because looking at Stewart at the top of his profession, you don’t see all the obstacles he faced when working his way to the top. His thanks were heartfelt. 

On the same night that Stewart thanked Springsteen, Jay Leno was welcoming a guest of his own — President Barack Obama. How proud was Leno of hosting the president of the United States? He said, “I hope my social studies teacher is watching this.”

So there on TV were four people who had a dream — and beat the odds to make it come true.

Here are two questions for you:

Can you dream as big as they did?
Can you work as hard and persistently as they did to make it come true?

Football coach Bill Parcells says, “If you don’t dream big dreams for yourself, who will?”

Coach Tully’s Extra Point: The lyrics to the song “Working on a Dream” can be found here.

Discussion

One comment for “Working on a Dream”

  1. Whenever my children would say, about some anticipated joy, “I don’t want to get my hopes up,” I would say: “absolutely get your hopes up. If it doesn’t happen, you’ll still have enjoyed the high hopes.”

    Posted by Peter Hirsch | March 20, 2009, 11:42 am

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