Sit back, relax, and imagine that something really great is possible. Your wildest dreams are within your grasp. You know, dreams really do come true. In the news this week there were two odd stories. Both were odd and filled with hope.
Today a viking ship made entirely of Popsicle sticks set sail from the Netherlands head to England. The ship and this journey were the dream of U.S.-born stuntman Robert McDonald. He, his son and over 5,000 school children glued together more than 15 million recycled Popsicle sticks. McDonald said that he just wanted to show the children that helped him that if you put your mind to it anything is possible. Stick to your dreams.
McDonald filled his 50-foot long Viking ship, "Thor", with lots and lots of toys that he will deliver to children that he visits in hospitals. Are you thinking that with the suffering that you have endured, you could not possibly accomplish such a feat? McDonald is visiting these children probably because of his experience. As a child, McDonald spent quite a while in a hospital after an explosion that killed both of his parents left him badly injured. Take heart! We human beings have capacity for greatness, sometimes beyond what we believe.
Another story of another man in the news this week is odd and uplifting at the same time and it points to a greatness of our intellectual capabilities. British scientist, Peter Higgs thinks in that area between science fiction and science fact. "Higgs, a veteran professor at Edinburgh University, told journalists in a rare interview that he hopes a vast experiment in the tunnels deep underground the CERN laboratory on the Franco-Swiss border could finally prove the existence of an elusive and unstable particle to which he has lent his name.
The so-called 'Higgs Boson' has been dubbed the 'God Particle' because so many have searched for it but no-one has seen it, despite Higgs using scientific deductions to claim its existence as far back as 1964." If this experiment reaches the hoped for outcome, then a new chapter in particle physics will have to be written. Finally, scientist will understand the origins of mass and why some particles have and others do not.
Higgs has devoted nearly his entire adult life to this dream of understanding the very nature of the universe and this experiment may allow him insight that many can scarcely comprehend, but, it is a gigantic gamble. The cost of this experiment is in the billions and the risks are even greater than the cost. Some have speculated that this experiment may "create massive black holes which could reduce Earth to a lump of hot, strange matter." Higgs is not worried and believes that those fears are the result of negative, wild speculation. This is a man that has dared to dream big.
Imagine what wonderful things you can do. If you dare to dream, work hard, and never give up.
Sources: 1. "Ice-cream stick ship sails for England" Reuters April 8, 2008 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/oukoe_uk_dutch_ship;_ylt=Aj7e6BFoq.ty74JY8PnjhB0DW7oF
2. "Veteran physicist hopes secret of universe lies underground" by Patrick Baert April7,2008 http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080407/ts_afp/sciencephysicscern;_ylt=ApRl7a4ZpQE72hkuxRqsHHIDW7oF
