I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. He has often let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money for poor youth.
The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, “I want to tell you why I let Jack use my house. 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, he 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 yours.'”
Don't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.
【助读词汇】
-ranch n.（尤指美国或加拿大的）大牧场
-itinerant adj. 巡回的 n. 巡回者
-gumption n. 魄力，勇气
【参考译文】
追随梦想
我有个朋友叫蒙提·罗伯兹，他在圣思多罗有座牧马场。我常借用他宽敞的住宅举办募款活动，以便为帮助贫困的青少年筹备基金。
上次活动时，他在介绍我时说：“我想告诉大家我把房子借给杰克用的原因。回想起来，这故事跟一个小男孩有关，他的父亲是位巡回马术师，他从小就必须跟着父亲东奔西波，挨个马场或农场去训马，所以男孩的学业经常被打断。高中快毕业时，有次老师叫他写一篇作文，题目是长大后的志愿。
“那晚他写了7张纸来描述他的伟大志愿，那就是将来有一天能拥有一座属于自己的牧马农场。他详细地描述了他的梦想，他甚至还画了一张200亩农场的设计图，上面标有所有的建筑，还有马厩和跑道等。他在这个200亩梦想的农场中，详细地画了一栋占地4000平方英尺的住宅。
“他花了好大心血把作文完成，第二天交给了老师。两天后他拿回了作文，第一页上打了一个又红又大的F，旁边还写了一行字：下课后来见我。
“脑中充满梦想的他下课后去找老师：‘为什么给我F？'
“老师回答道：‘对于像你这样的年纪人来说，这是个不现实的梦想。你没钱，你来自一个巡回训马的家庭，又没有资源。要拥有一座农场需要不少的钱。你要花钱买地，花钱买纯种马匹，花钱照顾它们。你没有办法做到这些。'他接着又说：‘如果你愿重写一个比较现实的目标，我会重打你的分数。'
“这男孩回家后反复思量了这个问题，然后他征询父亲的意见。父亲只是告诉他：‘儿子，这个问题你得自己拿定主意，但它对你来说是一个非常重要的决定。'
“最终，在思量了一个星期之后，他决定原稿交回，一个字都不改。他告诉老师：‘即使拿个大红字，我也不愿放弃梦想。'”
蒙提此时向众人表示：“我提起这故事，是因为各位现在就坐在我这座占地4000平方英尺的房子里，而这座房子就位于一个200亩农场的中央。那篇作文我现在仍保存在壁炉上面。”他顿了一下又说：“有意思的是，两年前的夏天，那位老师带了30个学生来我的农场露营一星期。离开之前，他对我说：‘蒙提，说来有些惭愧。做你的老师时，我曾对你的梦想泼过冷水。这些年来，我也对不少学生说过相同的话。幸亏你有这个毅力没有放弃自己的梦想。'”
不论做什么事，相信你自己，别因为别人的打击而放弃自己的梦想。
【人生启迪】
我们每个人都渴望成功，于是我们给自己定好了目标，也努力朝着目标奋斗，但是很多时候却因为别人的冷嘲热讽而最终放弃了，当失败的时候只会抱怨上帝没有眷顾自己，没有给自己成功的机会。其实想要获得成功并不难，那就是坚定不移的朝着你的目标迈进，在别人冷嘲热讽的时候继续坚持，也许你离成功只有一步之遥！