By Jack Krasula
June 1, 2007
I believe God created each of us to play a key role in His master plan and He designed each of us for greatness. Too often, because of poor self-image, setbacks, rejection, fear, tiredness and/or laziness, we never begin working toward, or give up on, our biggest dreams.
As the host of “Anything is Possible” on WJR these past two years I have become convinced you must have a dream. In fact, the bigger the dream, the better. You must also believe in yourself and realize that no significant dream was ever achieved without the help of many people. When you dream big, you’ll find it is also easier to attract the best people to help you turn your dream into reality. Finally, do everything in a first class way. Don’t wait, because being classy will directly increase the chance of achieving your dream.
A couple of my guests who are shining examples of dreaming big are Aaron Dworkin and Peter Nielsen.
Dworkin was born to a white, Irish-Catholic mother and black father in upstate New York and was adopted by white, Jewish parents when he was just two weeks old. At age 5, he began playing the violin at the 92nd Street YMCA in New York City. His dream? Reach out to minority music students.
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Today, Dworkin, 36, is the founder and president of the Sphinx Organization, which provides classical music education and competition for black and Latino students. Through Sphinx, Dworkin reaches 35,000 students a year on a $2.1 million budget with 38 full and part-time employees around the country. In the fall of 2005, he received a “genius grant” of $500,000 over five years from the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to encourage his endeavors. This grant is given to just 25 recipients each year. And there’s more. Sphinx just received a four-year, $1 million grant from JPMorgan Chase to be used to underwrite an annual gala performance at Carnegie Hall in New York for three years and to provide title sponsorship through 2009 for the Sphinx Competition, the organization’s signature event.
You may already know Peter Nielsen, fitness expert and radio and television host of “Peter’s Principles.” Diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at age 15, Nielsen lost 48 pounds and weighed a mere 83 pounds. But he didn’t let this stop him from dreaming big. Just two-and-half years later he won the Mr. Teenage American title. Since then he has won 72 bodybuilding titles, including Mr. International Universe in 1984 and 1985.
When his Crohn’s disease came back in 2001 at age 39, he didn’t let that stop him. Today, he’s an author of several books, including “Growing Up Strong” and “Will of Iron” and 18 fitness videos. His television show is now in more than 225 markets
If you wish to listen to any of the past shows, go to anythingispossible.biz, click on the archived shows and each guest is listed by date of show.
I truly believe that with God, Anything is Possible.
