15-A Time to Awake

What has become of your fondest dreams?

If you were guaranteed success, what would dare to attempt?

We all have dreams, deep inside?those moments when we take a voyage

in our imagination, into a world where everything was possible. A

world where fear is a strange concept, limits are non-existent and we

are at peace with ourselves.

How come our dreams remain just that?dreams?

Why are we stuck in jobs we hate, held bound by the fear of the

unknown, if we dare to stand up and walk away?

Every new day seems to take us farther away from our dream. Sometime

we get so caught up in the rat race; our dreams seem like a distant

memory. Little by little we let our dreams die.

How come our biggest dreams don't come true?

The answer is not a profound revelation from the east, culled¹ from

wisdom of the ancients. It is so simple; you begin to wonder why it

skipped you all these years.

Our dreams simply don't come true because we keep on sleeping after

dreaming. We don't wake up, get out of bed, and do something about

it. The best dreams come to pass when you are awake?

Sometimes we actually wake up and take one giant leap for mankind.

Then we plummet² back to earth, lick our wounds, convince ourselves

that it is not feasible, and promptly³ go back to sleep. Sometime we

give it a second or third shot, before we say goodbye and return to

status quo avenue. Well, we gave our best shot?

For some, we keep snoring away hoping that one day; we will awaken⁴ to

a glorious dawn. Oh Happy day! We hope that a unique set of

circumstances will propel us to the fulfillment of our dreams. We

will simply happen to be at the right place at the right time, and

the rest is history?

I had always dreamed of becoming a best-selling author. I wanted to

make a home in the serene⁵ countryside, close to nature, for

inspiration to write my masterpieces, and travel the world with my

family in-between.

On the strength of my dreams, I embarked⁶ on my first writing project,

a fiction novel way back 1982. A year and two rejection⁷ slips later,

I embarked on another fiction novel. That project got abandoned as I

gained admission to college to study Engineering.

How did I end up reading engineering?

I was good in science subjects and I gave a kiss of life to many

abandoned electrical and mechanical appliances that my parents had

given up on. Conclusion, this boy is an engineer! To make it more

compelling, present day realities then dictated⁸ that only

professionals stood a fighting chance of getting a jobs: sweeter

still, it will make my parents mighty⁹ proud. To drive the point home,

my brother-in-law read Mechanical Engineering, and was doing very

well. Don't I aspire¹⁰ to be like him? It was an ironclad case. The

world of everyday reality was closer than my field of dreams. He, who

fights and runs away, lives to fight another day. In 1984, I shoved

my dreams into a bottom drawer and proceeded to college

My dreams lay dormant¹¹ for almost 20years. December 2001, I read Rich

Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I woke up big time. I have been

awake ever since then. I am not yet a best selling author, but I am

definitely edging my way there, one step at a time, one day at a

time.

The only way our dreams can come true, is when we start doing

something about it. Start with a baby step, one tiny step after

another. With time, you will be amazed how far you had gone. The more

steps you take in the direction of your dreams, the bolder you

become. Soon you start seeing shafts¹² of light at the end of the

tunnel. The closer you get, the more feasible it becomes. Gradually,

your fears begin to ebb¹³ away.Taking the first step is a scary

business. You can determine the magnitude and direction of that first

step. Some folks grab the bull by the horn, quit their day job, and

go for it. Others keep their day jobs, and moonlight at sun down,

till they get to the point they can comfortably fire their boss. For

others still, it means a change of career.

Whichever route you take to the land of your dreams, the starting

point is waking up, and doing something. Then keep on keeping on. It

is only a matter of time. You will get there?

1 culled   

v.挑选，剔除( cull的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The herd must be culled. 必须有选择地杀掉部分牧畜。 来自辞典例句
• The facts were culled from various sources. 这些事实是从各方收集到的。 来自辞典例句

2 plummet   

vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物

参考例句：

• Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the incident broke.自事件发生以来，蒙牛和伊利的股票大幅下跌。
• Even if rice prices were to plummet,other brakes on poverty alleviation remain.就算大米价格下跌，其它阻止导致贫困的因素仍然存在。

3 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

4 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

5 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

6 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

7 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

8 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

10 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

11 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。

12 shafts   

n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等）

参考例句：

• He deliberately jerked the shafts to rock him a bit. 他故意的上下颠动车把，摇这个老猴子几下。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Shafts were sunk, with tunnels dug laterally. 竖井已经打下，并且挖有横向矿道。 来自辞典例句

13 ebb   

vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态

参考例句：

• The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
• They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。