First is my son, James Forde, who lives in France with his wife, Elisa Forde and their two teenage children Sam and Jessica. Have a happy 46th birthday son.
Second is my Facebook friend, Elaine Kirkbright, who lives in Leeds. The third is Christina Fridström, who lives in Sweden. Last, but by no means least is the partner of my Facebook friend, Isabell Delgarno from Corby, who is 71-year-old Bill Brown.
Enjoy your special day, everyone and leave some room for lots of cake and suitable refreshments.
I wish all three birthday celebrants today a joyous occasion, and my message to all of you is crucial to your continued Hope, Health and Happiness:
"Never stop dreaming. Never stop believing in your dreams, however long you have held them. Never stop reaching out and doing things that bring your dreams one step closer to reality.
Never forget that if you can dream, there will always be a life of hope ahead of you and a rainbow of few regrets behind you."
My song today is one that Elvis Presley made famous, 'If I Can Dream'. My birthday wish is that all your dreams come true.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
‘If I Can Dream’ is a song made famous by Elvis Presley and was written by Walter Earl Brown. It is notable for its direct quotations of Martin Luther King, Jr. The song was published by Elvis Presley's music publishing company ‘Gladys Music, Inc.’ It was recorded by Presley in June 1968, two months after King’s assassination. The recording was first released to the public as the finale of Presley's 1968 ‘Comeback Special’.
The history of how and why the song was written is as follows. Brown was asked to write a song to replace "I'll Be Home for Christmas" as the grand finale on NBC's ‘Elvis’, from June 20-23, 1968 (now also known as ‘68 Comeback Special’). Knowing about Presley’s fondness with Martin Luther King, and about his devastation related to his then-recent assassination, he wrote ‘If I Can Dream’ with Presley in mind. When Presley heard the demo, he was known to have proclaimed "I'm never going to sing another song I don't believe in. I'm never going to make another movie I don't believe in." And he, in the nine short years remaining for his life to end, kept his promise.
The song was published by Presley's company ‘Gladys Music, Incorporated’. When Colonel Tom Parker heard the demo of the song sent by Earl Brown, he said: "This ain't Elvis' kind of song." Elvis was also there, and he countered Parker’s argument, then he pleaded: "Let me give it a shot, man." Earl Brown said that when Elvis recorded the song, he saw tears rolling down the cheeks of the backing vocalists. One of them whispered to him: "Elvis has never sung with so much emotion before. Looks like he means every word."
The song was released as a single with ‘Edge of Reality’ as the flip side in November 1968. It charted on ‘Billboard's Hot 100’ for 3 months and a week, peaking at Number 12. In Canada, the song peaked at Number 6 on RPM ‘Top Singles Chart’.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Their dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work. All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them and the heart to live them. Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life becomes like a broken-winged bird that cannot fly to its planned destination of settledness and peaceful refuge.
Dreamers do not come in a 'one-size-fits-all personality'. All people dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity they imagined; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men and women, for they act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. The only thing that can make a dream impossible to achieve is a denial of hope allied to fear for the failure of tomorrow.
I once read of dreams being likened to excursions into the limbo of unmaterialised things; a mental search seeking deliverance from a human prison where the only bars preventing one breaking free are self-constructed. Dreams should be positive statements of fact; pictorial illustrations which our souls are imprinting on our brains and our brains instruct our bodies to act out.
I often encounter people who make statements like, "I too had dreams once, but they weren't to be......" before proceeding to indicate that changed circumstances and advancing age made them as redundant today as passed water under the bridge. Let me tell you that dreams never become redundant or outdated. Dreams are renewable! No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.
Like an unnurtured flower on the brink of dying for lack of water and restful shade, dreams can be revived by becoming a kinder gardener to them. Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke off the life from them. But water them with optimism and nurture them with solutions and you will cultivate success.
When I was a boy, the one thing I knew my mother was and always had been was a dreamer. One of the many things she told me as a boy was, "Billy, those who dream most, do most with their lives!"
While I naturally hope that all you readers of this daily post of mine will take this advice that I genuinely offer on board, I entreat our three birthday celebrants today to do so. Please, recognise that our dreams are wishes of our heart and that they represent the safest risk we could possibly take to secure sufficient satisfaction, engender constant hope, promote better health and instil greater happiness in our life. So dare to dream, but do not dwell on dreams and forget to live in the moment during the process.
Love and peace Bill xxx