The wind was up to 25 miles per hour before the event. Some 3,000 spectators were gathered at the Iffley Road track in Oxford. It was a meet between the British Amateur Athletic Association and Oxford University. The howling winds dropped just before the race. They decided to do it. A margin of opportunity had suddenly opened up for them. Chris Brasher and Christopher Chataway, his friends, provided the pace. On that day the lanky 25-year-old man changed the course of history. Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute barrier. His exact time was 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. The history of the human race was changed on May 6, 1954. Yet prior to that day, it was believed to be utterly impossible. The thinkers of the day even gave informal opinions as to why it was not possible. It was not physically possiblebecause human body simply could not move that fast. It was clearly against the laws of biology and violated the dynamics of physics. Yet on that day, one young man did the impossibledespite the solid facts of history and the carefully weighed opinion of the intelligent people of his time. Once it was proven possible, others began to do it. Since that time an estimated 200,000 people have done it. Consider, in the history of the world, this one feat was considered impossible. Yet one man dared to dream the impossible, train for it, and prove it. The impossible dream is just as possible for you if you dare believe in it. Even if you are the first person in the history of the human race to dream itit is possible. If you can dream it, you can achieve it. Your will is an irresistible magnetic force that will draw all that you need to accomplish your goaleven when you have nothing going for you at the moment. Your task is not to ponder how. Your task is to simply ask, why not? Insist on your yourself. Insist on grasping your gift in the present. Insist on using the cumulative force of your will to bring it to you. The Buddha once said, Your work is to discover your world then with all your heart give yourself to it. Who are you? Where did you come from? Why are you here? And where are you going? Can you define your world? Dare you dream? And dare you give yourself over to your dream? No matter what tribulations and heartaches youre currently experiencing, no matter what obstacles and setbacks, no matter how great your frustration at the relentless forces opposing your dream, remember one thingit isnt over until you win. If you can truly believe that it is possibleregardless of your current realitythen somehow and in someway, you will make the greatness that is you come into reality. Follow your dream. Even if it is an impossible one. You can never hope for too much. You can never dare too much. It isnt over until I win. Make that your mantra. |
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