What’s Your Dream?

“It’s not what you do, it’s who you are!” These are the words of former Major League Baseball pitcher Dave Dravecky who recently spoke at a university assembly at Southern Adventist University.

Dravecky was at the top of his game in 1988, fulfilling his boyhood dream, when doctors discovered cancer in his pitching arm. Having part of his deltoid muscle removed, Dravecky was told by his doctors that “Short of a miracle, you’ll never pitch again.”

But Dravecky defied all odds when he once again mounted the pitcher’s mound on August 10, 1989. It was an amazing day. People cheered Dravecky on as he warmed up and the crowd gave him a standing ovation as he returned to make his first pitch since his battle with cancer.

Five days later at a game in Montreal, Dravecky threw “the pitch that could be heard round the world” as his pitching arm split in two and he collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.

Dave Dravecky’s baseball career was over.

Dravecky’s pitching arm was amputated, and the reality was devastating. He struggled with questions about his identity, “If Dave Dravecky can’t play baseball anymore then who is he?”

In time Dravecky has come to realize that his dream of baseball is just a small part of a much bigger dream—bringing hope to suffering and hurting people around the world, and challenging those who question their own identities with the words “It’s not what you do, it’s who you are.”

We all struggle with questions about our identities. That’s a natural part of growing and changing. “Who am I?” “What am I going to be?” “What am I going to do?” But before any of these questions can be answered, we have to decide who we are.

Are we talented? Are we special? Are we smart? Are we beautiful?

Every person is talented. Every person is special. Every person is smart. Every person is beautiful.

When we own these ideas for ourselves and truly believe them with a humble attitude, we become empowered to look beyond ourselves, beyond our fears, beyond the things that hold us down and hold us back.

When we believe that we are talented, that we are special, that we are smart, that we are beautiful, then we can push forward realizing the dream inside of us and giving to the world what we’re here to share.

-Melissa
Editor
Chattanooga Teen Scene
*This selection is an editorial written for Chattanooga Teen Scene/October 2007 ©