I Dreamed A Dream

I would assume that most of you would have heard of Susan Boyle, the unexpected singing sensation to hit the world recently. If you have not, check out the video on HERE and you will be blown away just like me (hopefully).

Susan Boyle, a 47 year old single woman and unemployed. She joined Britian’s Got Talent, a talent show quite similar to American Idol, in April. The moment she stepped on stage and told everyone that she wanted to be a professional singer, everyone was cynical and immediately stereotyped her as a failure.

Please watch the video (HERE) before you read further, or else you would not know what I am talking about.

Watch it now…

Done?

Amazed?

I was and still am. Each time I see that video it moves me. When she started singing, I just felt so happy and felt so touch. Maybe I am just too emotional. But I have to agree that she is one real good singer. What captured me more wasn’t her voice but it was the great blow she gave to everyone at the hall and around the world.

Simon asked her, “What’s the dream?”

Susan answered, “I, I’m trying to be a professional singer.”

“And why hasn’t it worked out so far, Susan?”

“I’ve not been given the chance before but here’s hoping that it will change.”

Susan Boyle has a good voice, a wonderful voice in fact, but she has not been given the chance before. That is the problem with the world. We are so quick to judge one another and stereotype each other according to our looks that we do not know we are undermining so many of us. Watch the video and hear the judges’ comments at the end. Piers said, “When you stood there with that cheeky grin and said, ‘I want to be like Elaine Paige everyone was laughing, no one is laughing now.” The lady judge said, “I am so thrilled because I know that everybody was against you. I honestly think that we were all being very cynical and I think that is the biggest wakeup call ever.”

This to me was also a wakeup call. It tells me not to really judge a book by its cover, even though I have heard it so many times, this is the first time it became real to me. Can you imagine what happened to the years before Susan came to Britian’s Got Talent? My guess was that everyone rejected her because they thought that she was one bad singer judging from her looks.

I believe that within each and everyone of us, God has planted something wonderful and beautiful - something that we can use to touch the lives of the people around us in a positive way. If we would only muster the courage within us to express that wonder and beauty, the world would be a much better place to live in. If we would stop being judgmental and start giving people not only a chance but MANY CHANCES, we would see stars brightening up our nights.

Many dreamed a dream, but few get the chances to see their dreams come to pass. Will you give someone that chance?

Susan Boyle’s sang “I Dreamed a Dream”. Check out the lyrics below:

There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
And they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.