DESIRE TO DREAM

Desire is wishful thinking wanting to have something or for something to happen.  Dream is unconscious desire and wishes.  I am sure all you in this room have lot of desires and the list grows on a daily basis.  Good evening my dear TMOD, fellow toastmasters, visitors and guests.

You will also be nurturing some dreams in life and you would like to realise those dreams and make them a reality.  Should we have desires or dreams?  Should we nurture more desires or more dreams?  Is the desire leading into a dream?  Is the dream getting converted into a desire?  These are some of the questions that come up in our mind.

Sigmond Freud has said that “Dreams are not mere nonsense they are fulfillment of desires”.

I had a desire to become a Chartered Accountant and when I pursued that course I faced lot of challenges as it was extremely tough and demanding.  The stress level was very high as I had to work for a practicing Chartered Accountant firm as an apprentice to learn the ropes of auditing.  Simultaneously I had to also prepare for the exams.  The pass percentage was typically very low as it is a very tough exam.  The fear of failure was always looming large.  I used to dream of missing the train very often.  I will go near the train and will not be able to get in or I will reach the platform when the train has just left.  After all the struggle of preparing for exams and failing a couple of times eventually when I became a Chartered Accountant I did not feel happy but only felt relieved.  I stopped getting the dreams of missing trains.  Dreams are not mere nonsense they are fulfillment of desires.

I have a desire for engaging in different things at the same time.  I like to also start a new assignment with all the enthusiasm and freshness.  The attention that I used to give for the starting of new assignments was not there for completing the same.  It was a constant desire to get engaged into different activities.  I used to get a dream very often of being called back to the Audit Firm where I did my apprenticeship to complete an audit.  I will be in a fix on how to go about doing the audit as I am quite busy at work in the company where I was working as CFO.  When it dawned, I would realise that it was just a dream and feel relieved.  I changed my approach to work in 2006 and decided that I will focus on “start to finish” to ensure that my enthusiasm and interest remains the same from the beginning to the end of the assignment.  I also decided that I will think twice before embarking on any new assignment.  I stopped getting the dreams of being called back by the Audit Firm for completion of audits.

I remember the story of a Village Teacher who was always right and people always looked up to him for advise.  Two youngsters decided to trick the teacher into a wrong decision and expose him to the villagers.  They came up with a small butterfly in their hand and asked the teacher “Is the butterfly dead or alive”.  The trick was if the teacher says it is alive press the hand and show a dead butterfly.  If the teacher says the butterfly is dead then open the hand and let the butterfly fly.  When the teacher was asked this question in front of all villagers, he replied “the fate of the butterfly is in your hands”.

Having positive desires and turning those positive desires into dreams is in our hands.  Let us focus on positive desires and convert them into dreams.  When these positive dreams are pursued we will realise them one day and make them reality.  Happy living and helpful nature with empathy for others can be ensured with positive desires which are eventually converted into dreams.  Have positive desires, Dream Big and Achieve Success in life.

T.P.Anand
28th July 2018