Once upon a time there was a postman who had a
dream. He dreamed of having his own palace. Not just a palace, but something
very unique unlike any other palace. Whenever he was doing his job he dreamt of
having this palace. He believed in it. He never doubted it. He had faith.
One day while on his route, he was dreaming
again of his imaginary, beautiful and unique palace. He was drowned in his own
little world that he did not follow the road, and he stumbled and fell. When he
came to he saw what had brought him down. A rock.
It was mighty and quite unique. He looked at
it, and he felt inspired. He listened to that little voice in his voice and
picked this rock up. This was his first rock, and many others followed. He kept
believing in his dream, and with this first rock he was sure nature would
supply more. The following years he collected more material for his wonderful
palace.
One day he knew it was time, and he was ready
for the next step. At the border of his village he purchased some land and he
laid the corner stone. Without any architectural knowledge or construction
knowledge he started building his palace, and he continued building over the
next 33 years. Every spare moment he spent on his palace with only an oil lamp
giving him light to see.
His neighbours and people in his village laughed
at him and thought he was crazy.
After 33 years, 10’000 days or 93’000 hours he
completed his palace despite very many people’s disbelief. But he, the simple
mailman, always had faith and believed in his dream, and so he went and made it
come true. The palace spreads on 26 x 14
metres and measures a height of 20 metres. It is a wondrous building made out of
stone, cement and clay. And it is the work of one man and one man only, Ferdinand
Cheval. He completed his dream palace when he was 76 old.
These days this Palace of Fantasy attracts many
visitors, but around 1905 before the completion of this monument the first
tourist came to see it. Even famous artists like Pablo Picasso came to pay a visit
and were deeply impressed. Picasso even made sketches of it and praised the
builder’s talent.
After the completion of his palace, Ferdinand
Cheval had another dream – being buried in his beautiful and unique palace
together with his wife Marie when the time had come. But authorities declined
his request. Hence, he started his next project following his dream. On the
local cemetery he then built a mausoleum. Eight years after having laid the
first stone he completed building it.
A year later, on 29.08.1924, Ferdinand Cheval
passed away at the age of 88. His body is gone, but his spirit lives on. Today
he is seen as a visionary, an artist of cement, as France’s Hieronymus Bosch.
Ferdinand Cheval did not only leave a Palace of
Fantasy and a mausoleum, but also a message of faith and inspiration. “With
this building I wanted to show that with a strong will you can reach anything!”
So what is your dream? Are you making it come
true. Ferdinand Cheval has proven that no matter what your dream is you can
turn it into reality. Keep the faith and follow your intuition. Listen to that
voice of inspiration, and everything will flow automatically as long you
believe in yourself and your dream. No dream is too big or too small!
So go and follow that hunch of yours. If you
want to write a song, put your fingers on the keys or the strings, and let the
music flow through. If you want to write a book, sit down, relax, and start
typing, and the words will flow through you. If you want to be a football
player, go out on the field, and kick that football, and the energy will flow
through.
No matter what your dream is, take that first
baby step to turn it into reality, and your voice of inspiration will tell you
what to do next. You do not need to worry about anything. Just ask and believe,
and you will receive. It is like placing an order online. You choose what you
want, put the product into the basket, you go to checkout and pay for it. And
some days later it is delivered.
So go for your dream, and make it come true.
You are the master of your universe and you and you alone can make it come
true. So go for gold! Always!
