“There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality,
and then there are those who turn one into the other.”
—Douglas Everett
How big is the dream you have? Who’s to say it’s impossible?
For most of recorded history, people had lists of things that were impossible—flight, space travel, talking long distance, seeing long distance, replacing limbs or organs. Bit by bit we’ve done all these things. Nothing seems impossible anymore—we just acknowledge that we haven’t invented the technology yet.
My dad was an aerospace engineer, and I grew up watching all the rocket liftoffs at 5:00 am with the family. I loved reading his science fiction magazines and novels, which spoke of space flight to other worlds, robots to do our bidding, new technological inventions like virtual reality or hand-held computers.
Science fiction authors invented many things in common use today. Lunar exploration was mentioned as early as 1634 by Johann Kepler. Jules Verne foresaw scuba diving in 1870; Edward Ballamy wrote about credit cards in 1888; and H. G. Wells described a flat surface with moving pictures in 1899, which we now know as a tablet computer.
In 1932 genetic engineering was introduced by Aldous Huxley, satellites were mentioned by Isaac Asimov in 1945, and Mark Twain wrote about a global communication device like the internet in 1904.
I remember watching Star Trek and all the kids thought how cool it was that they had “communicators” which they could flip open and talk with each other. Now, cell phones are an everyday reality.
They had to take out the House of the Future at Disneyland when everything in it became widely used in everyday life. Science fiction becomes science fact on a regular basis. If you can believe it, you can achieve it.
“To boldly go where no one has gone before”…that’s what all creative artists do. No matter what cost or outcome.
I thank God and my lucky stars for all the people who follow theirs and create this rich life I enjoy. I’m grateful for all those who turn their dreams into reality and invent personal computers, heart transplants, eyeglasses, microwave ovens, washing machines, and televisions.
My dad said the real miracle wasn’t that a man landed on the moon, but that we watched him land on the moon!
Audrey Hepburn said, “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!”
What do you want to invent? What star are you following? “Second star to the right and straight on ‘til morning.”
Go. Boldly!
From From Worry to Wealthy by Chellie Campbell
