13/07/2020
"What's your biggest dream, Uko?" I asked as we both sat side by side, looking at cars and people as they passed by.
Without wasting any time, Uko replied, "Uhmm... to be as rich as Dangote."
"That's quite a big dream, you know." I said.
"I know. But you asked my biggest dream, didn't you?"
"Yes I did. So how do you plan to achieve that dream?" I asked. "What's your plan of making that dream a reality?"
"Hmm. Plan..." Said Uko, "Well I don't know yet. I just believe it in my heart that with God on my side, I'll become very rich."
"Amazing," I responded in what sounded like sarcasm. "So you just know that you want to be very rich; as rich as Dangote, but you have no idea how that dream is going to become reality? No plan, nothing? Just a mere dream?"
"Don't call it a mere dream," he said defensively. "It can't be a mere dream when I have this strong conviction in my heart."
We both stayed silent for about a minute, watching this beautiful identical twins as they passed by. It would be really difficult to know one from the other, especially when they're dressed in similar cloths and shoes as they are right now.
I later turned back to Uko and said gently to him; "Hey, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to talk down on your dreams or make you feel bad for having them."
"I believe we all have a right to dream as big as we want," I continued as he was now staring back at me. "I believe that every great thing we see today didn't just happen by chance... It all started as a dream in someone's heart."
Uko simply nodded and look away, staring at the passers-by once again, saying nothing in reply, so I continued.
"Do you remember Thomas Edison, the man who invented the electric light bulb?"
"Yes," Uko replied. "I even heard he failed over a thousand times while working on that project."
"Exactly," I answered in the affirmative. "He was one of a kind."
"So what about him?" He asked.
"Well, one remarkable thing about Edison, something that intrigues me a lot," I answered, "was that this man was actually kicked out of school when he was a boy for not being a smart kid."
"He was?" Uko asked, looking surprised.
"Yes, he was," I replied. "Edison was tagged 'mentally re****ed' by his teachers. They concluded that he lacked the ability to learn or understand anything that could be thought in school. So they sent him home and asked him to never return."
"Wow," replied Uko. "That's unbelievable."
"Well, why is it unbelievable?" I asked.
"Because it is not expected of a man who was dumb in school to become one of the greatest scientists and inventors the world has ever known. How is that even possible?"
I simply looked away for a few seconds, smiling in silence, and wondering how best to help this young man understand the possibilities available to him.
I wasn't surprised he was awed by this revelation... I felt exactly the same way when I first learnt this fact about Thomas Edison.
Turning back to him, I said in my usual soft tune, "Anybody can give his opinion, or her opinion of you, if you let them. Opinions are dime a dozen, that's why everybody has their. But the only person who knows the fact about you is YOU."
Seeing he was having a hard time understanding my point, I continued; "The school system tried to define Edison as 'mentally re****ed' and useless... that was their own opinion. But Edison knew that wasn't the fact about him.
"So he went back home, and with the help of his mother, continued his education at home. Even though he lost his place in school, he never gave up EDUCATION. He understood that education is beyond just going to school."
"Okay," said Uko. "So he started studying on his own at home?"
"Exactly," I replied. "But here's the point I want you to get... This is how it relates to you and I today."
As he stared into my eyes, doing his best to devour every single word that came out of my lips, I gave Uko what he later tagged the most profound word he'd ever heard.
"Thomas Edison was a big dreamer, but he was also a hardworking man. He understood that to make your dream come true, you need to plan and work hard at it.
"Anybody can dream big, it is that simple. But only a few people go beyond the dreaming stage. Edison understood that after dreaming, he had to wake up and plan, and then work towards actualizing that dream."
Uko kept nodding his head as I spoke these words, urging me to continue.
"It's okay that you have big dreams of becoming wealthy, but don't stop at dreaming and hoping that somehow you could stumble into wealth... It doesn't work that way.
"Dreams are mere wishes until they become a written plan, and then a work in progress. Until then, you're just like everyone else, doing the exact same thing everyday and hoping that someday your wishes could become reality."
As I stood up to leave, I gave Uko one final advice, "The richest people in the world have a habit of doing THREE things consistently: LEARNING, PLANNING and WORKING their plans. Do this and you too will one day become rich."
With that, I got into a cab and headed home.
© Kingsley Okoro
