To Reach The Unreachable Star

A blog I recently found mentioned a character I hadn’t thought of for years: Don Quixote. He’s the central figure in Man of La Mancha, a play/musical from the 1960s. The story is set during the Spanish Inquisition and tells of a knight who sets out to right all wrongs and win the heart of a good woman (Dulcinea) as he duels windmills along the way.

Quixote is a dreamer, an idealist, a man on a mission. I am all those things too. My dreams and missions are not as noble or significant as his, but I do identify with him because he has dreams and believes they are important.

Some of my dreams are selfish (career advancement, educational milestones, financial gain). Others are to help total strangers have a better life (some of my radio work).

I call it dreaming. Others sometimes call it goal-setting. I have lived many of my diverse dreams: host a radio show heard around the world, live in several interesting places, fall in love, ride in a helicopter, see the Grand Canyon, walk on a beach totally alone. Many unlived dreams are still on my list: graduate college, visit the Sicilian village of my great grandparents, hike the Bright Angel Trail into the Grand Canyon, write a book, interview John Glenn. And a few of my dreams seem impossible: save a person’s life, walk on the moon.

The point is to continue to dream.

Here’s an interesting coincidence … my elementary school graduation class had a song: “The Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha. This sounds silly, but I have to admit that I have always been inspired by those lyrics.

To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
To run ... where the brave dare not go ...
To right ... the unrightable wrong ...
To love ... pure and chaste from afar ...
To try ... when your arms are too weary ...
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

This is my quest, to follow that star ...
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far ...
To fight for the right, without question or pause ...
To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause ...

And I know if I'll only be true, to this glorious quest,
That my heart will lie will lie peaceful and calm,
when I'm laid to my rest ...
And the world will be better for this:
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

An impossible dream might really be impossible, but I believe that one should dream it anyway. You might not reach the unreachable star, but you could have one hell of a flight trying to get there.