Motivational Story : Karoly Takacs

You might have read this motivational quote,

 

Dream is not that you see in sleep
Dream is something that does not let you sleep.

~Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam

but little do we know the essence of this.

I want to share a motivational story which everyone should hear. 

Maybe you knew about it, may be you didn't . 

Image Source: Wikipedia

The Story

Back in 1938, there was a man in Hungarian Army named Karoly Takacs who was the incomparable pistol shooter of his country. He won most of the primary national and international championships. He seemed closest to winning 1940 Tokyo, Olympic gold medal and that was his only dream.

The focus of his life was to win the Olympic gold medal for his country for which he had practiced for years. Karoly wanted to make his hand, the best shooting in the world.

But, all his dreams turned dust one day. 

In 1938 in an Army training camp, one hand grenade exploded Karoly's right hand- his shooting hand.

That grenade ended up his only dream of life, winning the Olympic gold medal.

He had 2 choices at that time-

•  to knee down to life and cry for his rest of his life.
•  to focus back on his dream with a small light of hope.

What do you think ?

After one year in 1939, Karoly went to a national shooting championship in his country.

His colleagues were delighted to see him and complemented him to see courage to come up at the championship to cheer for them.

But, Karoly answered that 

He is not there to cheer for them but to compete with them.

 He was there to compete with them with his only hand. He had practiced for one complete year with his left hand- his only hand-and he won that championship. 

If you had guessed the 2nd option then yes you were correct. ;)

He focused on what he had not what he has lost.

But he didn't stop there. 

Remember his ultimate dream ?

His dream was to become the best shooting hand in the world and win the Olympic gold medal.

So, he started training with his only hand and concentrated his whole energy on 1940 Olympics. But, 1940 Olympics got cancelled due to World War 2. He didn't loose hope and concentrated again for 1944 Olympics. But unfortunately they got cancelled too.

It was very hard to see his dream fade away like dust. Anyone would have lost hope, lacked motivation but not him. He kept practicing and his next goal was 1948 Olympics. 

He was just one step away from making his hand, the best shooting hand in the world. He was 28 years of age in 1938 and in 1948 he was 38 years old. It was hard to compete with the new players with new enthusiasm and energy. But he hardly cared about that.

He went there.                     

Best shooters from all over the world were competing with their best hands. Karoly was the only one competing with his only hand. 

And the man with the only hand won.

But he didn't stop there. In 1952 Olympics he won gold again and changed the history of Olympics. 

It was his dream that didn't let him sleep. It was his dream that kept motivating him. It was his dream for which he practiced and practiced.

If you are determined nothing can stop you to reach your goal.