Will Smith said "being 'realistic' is the most commonly travelled road to mediocrity."
There is tremendous truth to this statement. If Thomas Edison had been "realistic", he would not have persisted through 1,000 failures in making the light bulb. Lucille Ball would have listened to her theatre teacher who told her she had no future in acting. Abraham Lincoln would have accepted that he would not likely ever win an election. The list goes on and on. Had any of these greats been "realistic" the world would not be what it is today.
One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given in my work with children and youth was from a school psychologist. In discussing a boy with a "disability" who wanted to do something out of the ordinary, the school psychologist said, "You've got to let him try." I took his advice and I was absolutely amazed with the results. What I learned from this is that testing, analysis and expert advice mean little. What matters most is the individual's drive to succeed, their inner passion and their persistence.
Let them try ,indeed!
Several major religions tell us that "we are created in God's image." They also teach that God is great and can do amazing things. In following logic, we can then conclude that we too are great. We are not supposed to be "realistic" or "mediocre", we are called to be extraordinary.
When it comes to small children, we have no problem allowing them to dream. Each of them can be a princess, the prime minister, a movie star, or the next Joe Carter who hits a home run to win the World Series. As these children grow, however, we tell them that they need to put those dreams away, they need to get real. Why do we do this?
Jimmy Morris was once an aspiring pitcher whose minor league career was cut short by injury. He chose to become a high school teacher and baseball coach. He taught his players not to be realistic, but to expect to be the best. His players challenged him to do the same and to try to make a comeback in his own baseball career. He did so, and made his major league debut with the Tampa Bay Rays at the age of 35. His story is told in the film "The Rookie".
The point is that we need to stop being "realistic" and start being great!
We also need to stop telling each other to be "realistic". People who achieve great things in life have dreams, and they have the drive to make those dreams come true by setting goals and working with persistence to achieve them. They know that if they keep trying, they will overcome all of the disappointments and challenges to one day see their dream become a reality. We may not be Thomas Edison, Lucille Ball, Abraham Lincoln, Joe Carter or Jimmy Morris, but no one else can be who we are, and each of us is amazing. Keep dreaming dreams. With every step we take toward our goals we are achieving success and refusing to be mediocre.
