Make One Change To Make Your Dreams Come True

Cue the music, ‘when you wish upon a star… makes no difference who you are..’ Cue the fireworks and cue Tinker bell flying across the screen with her wand dropping magical fairy dust over Cinderella’s castle. It’s Sunday night, I’m ten years old and watching, The Wonderful World of Disney. This was my religious experience, every week. My imagination was opened up to Walt Disney and all the possibilities of his amazing world. The only problem was, I didn’t think for a minute that I could actually experience that world. I just didn’t believe and it wasn’t until my son helped me to see differently, that my dreams really did come true.

Now you have to understand my mindset. This was 1977, an era long before the internet and before easy global travel. For me, at that time, America seemed so far away, it may as well have been a trip to the moon. Just to call my dad on the phone from Australia to New Zealand, required a ‘trunk call’, reverse charge of course, because it was so expensive. I never even dreamed of going to Disneyland, because it seemed so completely impossible and that was the problem.

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.” Henry Ford

I found my own limitations

I was determined to instil into my kids a belief that they could do and be anything they wanted. To not believe the nay-sayers, they could achieve their creative pursuits, as long as they were willing to work for it.

So when my son Jordan, applied for a character acting role at Disney, I was totally ecstatic with the possibilities. I journeyed with him as he passed through the fiery trials of auditions in Brisbane, then the agonising wait for the results. It was brutal. Then he finally received the grand news, that he would be spending a year in America. This began the next phase, a series of visa meetings, medical checks and insurance forms.

Finally, the day came. He was heading to the Disneyland in Florida and he would be one of the main cast members. It wasn’t until I was waving him goodbye, when he said, “come visit me”, that I realised there was a ceiling on my own ability to believe.

Long-held beliefs

It’s a strange feeling when you find the edge of your own limitations. A belief had been buried deep within my mind when I was young, that said, ‘you can’t go to Disneyland it is way too far and much too expensive’.

His contract was for one year and I went through the first six months in turmoil. I had to go visit him, it was a life-changing moment and it had to be celebrated, But I knew it was impossible and that was the breaking point. This was not a universal belief, it was something within my own mind and therefore could be changed. 
It required a shift in perspective or a change of mind.

Make one change to make your dreams come true.

One small thought when I was young, had built a whole scenario in my mind. A literal fortress of reasons why I could not possibly achieve this idea.

Choose to make a change

So I made the change, I decided to believe that it was totally possible. In reality, America was not that far away and I could raise the money if I set my mind to it. Just maybe this was not an impossible dream, but it did take some serious dedication to the goal.

Every day I had to tell myself my new belief system. I had to speak it out loud, so my ears would hear it. I had to make a concrete plan for achieving the financial goal and I had to overcome long-held beliefs that limited my own thinking.

But I made it. How could I not? I couldn’t be a hypocrite to my kids. I couldn’t tell them one thing and be another. Jordan had set the gauntlet, my son had pushed me to overcome my fears, I just had to and it changed my whole world.

I stood at Disneyland in front of the Walt and Mickey statue and just wanted to cry. I was there, in the flesh, doing something that I had believed as a child would never happen for me. I watched my son perform, so proud of him achieving all that he had done.

Jordan took me for a tour around Disney and it was even better than I had imagined because I had a backstage pass. He pointed out all the secret entrances and exits that the performers used and I met so many amazing people.

We went on the classic Dumbo ride. Like the one, I had watched on the Wonderful World of Disney and it made me think if this was achievable then what was stopping me from other supposed impossible dreams? This moment changed my life forever.

The possibilities are endless

It’s all about how you think about a matter.

This experience helped me to realise that we hold vows to ourselves. We say things like, ‘I will never…’, we are determined, ‘that will not happen for me’ and we trap ourselves in thinking that can limit our success in every area of our life. We create barriers in our minds that stop us from living happily.

The best news is, that thoughts can be just like fleeting moments of emotion. They can change, we can change them. We can decide to not hold ourselves prisoner, to a certain way of thinking and we can push through the fear, by simply deciding to think something else.

My photo with Goofy!

I know it is not easy, but it is so worth it. All your dreams really can come true, if first of all, you believe it is possible.
Of course, getting a hug from Goofy was the most satisfying moment, what a guy!

Froyle Davies
I’ve been a visual artist for over 25 years and now I tell my stories.
Let me inspire you with this beautiful free print, ‘Above the Stormy Waters.’

Cheers Froyle