Free The Ultimate Gift (The Ultimate Series #1) by Jim Stovall Page A

fortunate person. My friend had his dream with him all the days of his life. It continued to grow and expand. When he would reach one milestone of his dream, another greater and grander one would appear.
    “In a real way, my friend taught a lot of people how to dream and imagine a better world. His name was Walt Disney.
    “But let me warn you. Your dreams for your life must be yours. They cannot belong to someone else, and they must continue to grow and expand.
    “I had another friend whose name you would not know. He said it was his dream to work hard and retire at age fifty. He did, indeed, work hard and achieve a degree of success in his business. He held on to that dream of retiring, but he had no passion beyond that.
    “On his fiftieth birthday, a number of us gathered to celebrate both his birthday and his retirement. This should have been one of the happiest days of his life—if his dream had been properly aligned. Unfortunately, his entire adult life had been spent in his profession. That is where he had gained a lot of his pride and self-esteem. When he found himself as a relatively young man without his profession to guide him, he faced the uncertainty of retirement. It was something he thought he had always wanted, but he discovered quickly it created no life-sustaining passion for him.
    “A month later, my second friend committed suicide.
    “The difference between one dreamer who was still energized by his lifelong passion while on his deathbed and another dreamer whose goal was so ill-fitting for his personality that he committed suicide should be apparent to you.
    “Jason, it is important that your dream belong to you. It is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Your dream should be a custom-fit for your personality, one that grows and develops as you do. The only person who needs to be passionate about your dream is you.”
    Red Stevens paused, cleared his throat, and seemed to mentally shift gears. He finally continued. “Jason, this month, I want you to begin experiencing the gift of dreams. Assume everything is possible. Make a list of all the things you would like to do and be and have in your life. Then begin to prioritize that list as you discover the ones that generate the most passion in your soul.
    “At the end of the month, I want you to share a handful of those dreams with Mr. Hamilton. There are no right or wrong answers, and keep in mind your dreams will grow and develop through the years. What is more important than the dreams, themselves, is the process of becoming a dreamer.
    “I wish you a life of pleasant dreams.”
    Red Stevens’ image faded, and for a moment Jason stared down at his hands, which were folded on the conference room table. Finally he spoke. “I have never thought about what I wanted to do with my life. I guess I always felt that just existing and drifting through day to day was enough.”
    I stood up and began walking toward the door as I said, “Jason, this would be a good time to start dreaming, and there is no one better to learn the process from than Red Stevens. I look forward to your report at the end of the month.”
    I walked out of the conference room and left Jason there with his thoughts and—I hoped—his dreams.
     
    I will never forget the day, more than three weeks later, that I sat across my desk from Jason Stevens as he shared the beginnings of his lifelong dreams. He began slowly, but gained momentum as he spoke.
    “Well, in the beginning I had a huge list of things I thought I wanted to do or be or have. But I realized these weren’t really dreams—they were things I could do now if I wanted to. I just hadn’t taken the time or energy to do them yet. But when I thought about Walt Disney, several things came to me.”
    Jason paused for a moment. He looked from Miss Hastings to me and back again. I felt he was seeking encouragement. Miss Hastings smiled and nodded at him, and Jason seemed to gain confidence as he continued.
    “Somehow, some