Tonight, I watched the movie Cool Runnings with some of the leaders from the Thorhild Sports Camp. Today was the first of four days at TSC and watching a movie was a great way to end the day. The theme for TSC this year is Jamaica so it was only fitting that we watched Cool Runnings. I’ve seen this movie many times (and own the dvd) and it’s such a great movie for many reasons. Not only is it funny but it also has some great lessons. But there is one main lesson I’d like to talk about.
The main character, Derice, has a dream of winning an Olympic gold medal at the Olympics. However, in the first pivotal scene of the movie, he is tripped up along with another runner and instantly has his dream dashed.
However, after unsuccessfully arguing that the race should be re-run, he realizes that there is another way for him to compete in the Olympics – not as a runner, but as a bobsledder.
Although his original dream to run in the Olympics wasn’t possible, his dream of being in the Olympics was still alive.
Too often in life, we get laser focused on our dream and when something unexpected happens or when one door is closed and another opens, we aren’t able to see the new opportunity presenting itself. While it’s important to have a dream, we must also have the ability to shift our dream slightly, in case life happens and it becomes necessary in order to still go after our dream. Otherwise, we can feel as though that we failed, that something happened which was out of our control and we start blaming and making excuses rather than taking control of the situation and making it work in our favour.
This happened to me a few years ago when my goal of competing for Canada in ultimate frisbee didn’t happen because I was cut from the team during tryouts. However, two years ago, I competed at the World Overall Flying Disc Championships in Sweden, won the gold medal in Self Caught Flight and had the Canadian National Anthem play while I stood on the podium with my gold medal hanging around my neck. My dream to represent Canada still was alive but I just had to shift which sport it was going to be in.
Think about your own dreams and how you might have to shift them in order to still make them happen. If your dream is so rigid that you’re not able to adjust it if something changes, then be prepared for that possibility. But if you are able to plan in some flexibility then be prepared to have a life full of dreams that you are able to fulfill.