I dream of Genie

Here goes my 10th and final speech in Toastmasters Competent Communicator manual.
More details in my next post.

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The other day, I was watching a re-run of "I dream of Jeannie". It's a fantasy sitcom from the 1960s about an astronaut finding a beautiful genie in a bottle in Florida's own Cocoa beach. In one scene, Jeannie complained to her friend that people are so unpleasant nowadays. The friend replied that others don't have a Genie working for them! Well surely we'd all be more pleasant if we had a Genie

Ah to have a genie! The pleasures of the world at your fingertips. I was reading somewhere that it's no coincidence that kids are a big fan of fantasies and as we grow old, we become more rooted to reality. We stop wishing for powers as we gain independence ourselves. Our real powers of intellect and authority slowly replace our craving for extraordinary power. But ever so often in our daily lives, we face roadblocks and we face opposition. And in those times we wish to have genie or a Deus-ex-Machina solve all our problems

In old times in Greek plays, when there used to be an impasse, the protagonists just couldn't find a way out - a Greek god used to be lowered down from above the stage by a machine from above the stage - and solve all the problems for the characters. This was called Deus-exmachina. Well, life ain't a Greek play. And I haven't heard too many genies being found nowadays. But I will tell you today that we do have a Deus ex Machina - a Genie- and that genie is our own dream. Someone once said that to achieve an impossible dream, try going to sleep. I'm not talking about a sleep induced dream. Im talking about the dreams we dream while awake.

Before coming to US, I heard a lot of the American dream. After coming to US, I heard a lot about the American dream. God Americans dream a lot! Jokes apart, what is an American dream anyway? Isn't it just the belief that with hard work and dedication, our dreams can come true? I'm sure, the American dream is no so different from the dream say an Indian has. The Indian speaking before you today had a little dream when he was a kid. To take my parents on a foreign trip. Finally that dream came true last week when my parents joined me here in Tampa. Fulfilling the dream does taste sweet. Especially sweetened by the taste of mom's home-made cookies.

Now having a dream is one thing and fulfilling it is another. I think a very good way of turning our dreams to reality is to believe, to believe in ourselves and in our success.
That belief can come in two ways.

1. Watching others succeed and
2. Visualizing success.

First, watching others succeed: To give an example. As we know, Mount Everest is the tallest peak in the world. However, climbing 29000 feet of the dangerous mountain is no mean feat. Climbing it without any supplemental oxygen is nigh impossible. But on May 8, 1978, two mountaineers, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler, achieved the impossible. From 1953, when Everest was captured the first time, to 1978 no man climbed Everest without carrying a bottle of oxygen. Yet withing next 18 years, more than 60 men and women had reached the top relying on their own gasping lungs. So what changed? The belief that it could be done.

So we come to the second point: Visualization. I always dreamt of being able to speak confidently in front of the public. But when I was a kid, whenever my teacher asked me a question in class, I used to hear a background music - dab-dab, dab-dab, .... That was the sound of my heart beat! So I joined up for toastmasters. Before my ice breaker, I started hearing the background music again. But then something amazing happened. I visualized myself walking to the podium with a confident gait, not forgetting any lines and getting a warm round of applause when I walk back to my seat. And voila - it went exactly as I had visualized. Thereafter, I have always tried to visualize any difficult situations I face - say a negotiation with a broker, an interview, a sports match, etc. I visualized it going well and that always soothes my nerves and things fall into place after that.

To give another example, AP Gianini wss a fruit seller when he founded the Bank of Italy in 1908. But he visualized that he would one day turn it into the biggest bank in America. The fruit seller's dream was eventually fulfilled when is bank became not just the biggest bank in USA but the bigggest bank in the world. You would identify it with its newer name -Bank of America.

Watching others succeed make us believe that it can be done. Similarly visualization makes us believe that it can be done. So either we, if we believe, our dreams can come true. I believe that if we have confidence in our abilities, we have that genie that can make our dreams come true.
As Olivia Newton John sang, I will ask you:
Dare to dream
Dare to fly
Dare to be the ever chosen one to touch the sky

So no matter what people say, dream on - and don't forget to make my dream of hearing a great applause come true when I return to my seat now.