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Keep Your Dream

I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money for youth at risk programs.

The last time I was there he introduced me by saying:

“I want to tell you why I let Jack use my horse. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, 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, the stables and the track. 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 and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `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. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees. 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.'”

Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, “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 added, “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, the teacher 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.'”

“Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.”

– Author Unknown

{ 187 comments… add one }
  • Alexandria Nabayinda August 25, 2023, 7:26 am

    Indeed one needs to believe in themselves

  • Kapil Patel April 22, 2022, 3:52 am

    Coming here from Genpact, wow “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream”

  • Story-Reader January 25, 2021, 2:45 am

    “Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.”

    Was a great moral

  • Prateek Khandelwal November 6, 2020, 2:41 am

    Truly inspiring.

  • Goodness chidinma April 29, 2020, 3:05 am

    This story is truely inspiring…

  • sanjay December 28, 2019, 7:46 am

    This is an Inspiring short story with a moral lesson. Thanks for sharing this inspiring story. From this story, we get to learn that to fulfill our dreams we should listen to our hearts and not to anyone else.

  • Juvie Dianne Casinto November 27, 2019, 2:50 am

    Don’t stop dreaming, be who you are.

  • JIMMY REYES July 5, 2019, 5:41 am

    keep big dream high, and don’t be steal be the others saying.

  • Jenna shoemaker August 29, 2017, 11:01 am

    This is the sweetest story I have ever read.

  • Jenna shoemaker August 29, 2017, 11:00 am

    This’s so sweet

  • Ungitoh juliette August 27, 2017, 1:13 pm

    It is an amazing story , thanks to the author for it inspires me a lot.

  • Kashmiri June 27, 2017, 1:48 pm

    That’s awesome story I have ever listen or read……..

  • Anand Kumar Murthy June 13, 2017, 12:25 am

    Wonderful story, very nice.

  • srijila May 21, 2017, 4:39 am

    It have inspired me to continue my dream and give motivation to make it practical

  • Alissa violet March 6, 2017, 6:18 am

    This is the first story i read and i love it!

  • Festus Rotich July 7, 2016, 9:50 am

    Wow!

  • Mong June 16, 2016, 12:12 pm

    Powerful heart touching story Good God Bless you

  • chetam gotur May 27, 2016, 4:05 pm

    Inspiring is the word I would use…….

  • Jake May 25, 2016, 5:12 pm

    I love it

  • Sachin Kumar May 19, 2016, 1:32 pm

    This story inspired me that we should never share our dream.

  • Joel Fortune January 18, 2016, 8:55 am

    I’m really encouraged. my dreams are realistic if I continue to work towards it. I believe in God, I will attain all my dreams

  • Elvie S. September 2, 2015, 10:07 pm

    Never give up on your dreams and not letting anyone discourage you no matter what. It’s only you who can fulfill that dream and no one else.

  • Allan August 30, 2015, 2:06 pm

    I loved the story, and the moral of it really made me understand, that with God all things are possible.
    I am sharing this story with our school learners during Assembly on Monday, as I believe it will appeal to them as well as the teachers who will be present.
    Determination and Perseverance coupled with sincere prayer, will always realise your dreams in the end.
    Thank you for the story on this site.

  • Tushar June 7, 2015, 8:45 am

    Really it’s an inspirational story, i too have a dream and this story makes me more conscious about my dream. I hope in future me too will be able to tell story of my dream

  • Dr.bbalnarayana May 7, 2015, 12:51 pm

    This story is really admiring.
    It’s reminding us that, if our decision
    Is strong, having belief in it, our
    Dreams may come true though
    They seem to be impossible.
    As per c.s. lewis;
    “you are never too old to set another goal
    Or to dream a new dream”

  • Mahek April 30, 2015, 1:21 am

    This story has really inspired me and rocked me at my core…I would also love to know very much how did Monty reached his goals..and never stop dreaming

  • Alex Johnson January 13, 2015, 1:13 pm

    Great story. Never Give up on your dreams!!! =-)

  • Makato John June 21, 2014, 11:17 am

    Anybody can be able to fulfill their dreams if we set our actions towards achieving them.

  • Srishti June 7, 2014, 4:32 am

    Really a motivational one especially for those who dream and a bit scared from inside that their dream will come true or not . Dream can come true if we have to passion to prove it to be true irrespective of the economical reasons .

  • Roneil Anthony C. Altejos May 21, 2014, 11:14 pm

    I love my mom

  • Franco April 24, 2014, 6:23 am

    Great story

  • Dinaaftaani April 4, 2014, 9:37 pm

    This story reminds me to my grandmom. She used to tell me if you have a dream you must pursuit it.

  • Ahmed March 15, 2014, 12:34 pm

    This story gives a very wrong moral. You have to follow your society, environment etc that you are living in and then analyze whatever you want to do is suitable and acceptable by the society you are living in or NOT. Don’t let yourself be totally free. There should be certain boundries. Freeing yourself from all the clutches will take you towards evils most of the times. Like a famous hindi saying,
    “Aik Ali baba aur 40 choor”
    (Out of 40

  • Atulya December 21, 2013, 2:40 am

    I was really awoken by the stories.

  • Yoz V October 24, 2013, 10:38 am

    It’s not the dream of a lifetime; it’s the dream that takes a lifetime.

  • Kayanja Pius September 21, 2013, 8:47 am

    It’s real good for the youth who are still searching for vocation.

  • Aduot Peter Garang September 16, 2013, 9:02 am

    Yeah keeping my dreams will lead me to where my dreams become reality.

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