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Of this Story in My Voice

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Don't be ashamed of your dream. It doesn't matter how silly it may sound, may be weird, it may be whatever it is, you cannot be ashamed of your dream. See, a lot of us don't talk about our dream.

We don't talk about it because we're worried about what other people will say, if they're going to laugh at us, or if they're going to criticize us. But for that dream to have an opportunity to be realized in our life, we cannot be ashamed of our dream.

Not too long ago, I decided to go substitute teach at this school to help this teacher. I was an aide in the classroom because she had a big class. So she had this one student named Dan, who was obviously extremely intelligent. He would complete all his work and he would go to sleep. Every day this kid would sleep.

The teacher decided to ask each student what dream career they hope to accomplish in their lives. There were a variety of answers which included careers as doctors, rappers, athletes, and a host of others.

The last person that she asked was Dan. When he finally woke up she said, "Dan, I have a question for you. What is your dream career?"

He looked at her, and without any shame or hesitation he said "I want to be a mattress tester".

The class burst out laughing because they believed Dan was joking. He never smiled, so I was confused if he was serious or not because I had never heard of a mattress tester.

The teacher said "It's great to want to be a mattress tester. We're running out of time, but tomorrow Dan, you will be the first person I'm going to talk to about your dream career.

The next day we got in the classroom, the teacher waited for everybody to get before she spoke to Dan. When the bell rang she said "Dan, I went online and looked up the salaries for a mattress tester, what the qualifications are."

When she started reading off the qualifications, I sat in shock that being a mattress tester was an actual career.

Dan stopped her mid-sentence and said "Ma'am, I already know what the qualifications are. I've been studying mattresses for years and that's why I want to be a mattress tester. And this may sound weird to you, but every day I'm sleeping in class, I'm practicing for my future career as a mattress tester."

I was impressed with Dan because he was not ashamed of his dream. And just like Dan, you have to be willing to be bold about your dream by being willing to speak up about your dream. Don't be ashamed of your dream, even if other people laugh at you, criticize you, if they think you're weird.

Your belief in your dream will help propel you to making it a reality in your life. So be confident, don't be ashamed of your dream because You Are WORTHY TO BE GREAT!