The Power of Your Dream
What do you really want?
You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage — pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically — to say ‘no’ to other things.
Stephen Covey (1932-2012)
What were your dreams as a child?
Who did you want to become?
What did you want to do?
Deep in Your Heart
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
Maya Angelou (1928-2014)
Just think back and dig deep into your heart.
We all dreamed of something, often borne out of our needs and our wants.
When I was hospitalized at age 14, I wanted to be a doctor, which became my main drive in life. Then I became a doctor, but I also wanted to be an entrepreneur on this fast-growing Internet. I decided to go for it.
Then, I dreamed of making epic movies in my 50s, writing books in my 60s, and building a health and wellness centre and a meaningful Gospel Media Network. I'm 53 and turning 54 in a couple of weeks.
It's a constant drive that informs my choices. I work backward to give birth to these deep-seated dreams.
But before all of this, the pertinent question is:
"What do you really want in life?"
If there is only one thing you want to accomplish in life, what would it be?
Curing Cancer
The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.
William Osler (1849-1919)
One day, not too long ago, I found myself in the most elegant European hotel, Burgenstock, sitting atop the mountains above Lucerne, an hour away from Zurich. My friend, Ron Baron, suggested I spend a week there, citing it as the best hotel in Europe. Okay! I said, so I booked it. I love Lucerne, but this required a 30-minute boat ride away on Lake Lucerne, followed a cable car ride up the mountain straight into the hotel.
As I perched over the mountains in my hotel room, I started reading a book called 'The First Cell' by Dr. Azra Raza, an eminent oncologist and researcher at Columbia University.
I couldn't put it down.
Azra had known for the past 50 years, that she wanted to cure cancer. As I read the book, my heart leapt onto the pages. Her opening brought streams of tears flowing down my face.
Her husband, Harvey, also an oncologist, had just been diagnosed with his second cancer--the very same form of cancer that he was trying to cure and treat--blood cancer. Azra and Harvey had devoted their lives to treating those afflicted with this horror. And, now, she would be asked by Harvey to be his oncologist.
Pure Poetics
Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.
Robert Frost (1874–1963)
As I read each chapter, I sent her an email telling her how wonderful and heartfelt her book and her heart were. I wanted to help her. She had written about how difficult it was to get funding from billionaires. She had written to 100 and received one reply, who endowed her research: Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a billionaire oncologist, part owner of the LA Lakers, an astute early investor in Zoom, and producer of groundbreaking cancer therapeutics.
Then I asked Dr. Azra Raza (is this not the coolest name ever?) if I could be so bold as to write a book with her. She asked me to call her and proposed we do a documentary combined with some related writings. And so began our relationship. I asked her to be my mentor, as I marvelled not just for her heart to cure cancer but also for her love of poetry, especially Emily Dickinson. She could quote her by heart and from many of Emily's 1,800 poems.
Her daughter Sheherzad, who lost her father at the age of 4, had gone to film school and interned under Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, also a cancer researcher, whose phenomenal books would be made into documentaries by the great documentarian Ken Burns. Sid had won the Pulitzer Prize with his first book, a stellar story on the biography of cancer from its first appearance to now, The Emperor of All Maladies. Both Sid and Azra are superheroes in the realm of cancer fighters. Both will change the world. I can tell by their hearts and their minds, a dynamic duo who will revolutionize these immortal cells that refuse to die. And Sheher is documenting everything, our discussions, including the fundraising concerts with Hugh Jackman, Diana Krall, Christopher Cross, Elvis Costello, produced by Susan Brecker, another dear wonderful friend, whose husband Michael Brecker, famed Jazz saxophonist, passed away from cancer.
Left to Right: Siddhartha Mukherjee, Susan Brecker, Azra Raza, Me.
The Dream to Cure Cancer
Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.
Langston Hughes (1901-1967)
Since I started riding my bike to help raise money to cure cancer in 2008, when my good friend, Elliot Koo, age 28, had terminal cancer, I began dreaming about holding a charity ride with pro cyclists. I was infatuated with four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome. I had a Team Sky bike and kit (his team at the time).
Chris grew up in Kenya and trained in South Africa. The problem was there were no mountains to practice climbing on. So, he mimicked the mountains by pressing his brakes to create resistance for himself. Try that yourself. It's almost impossible to do for very long.
One evening, I met a guy named Simon Williams at a dinner with friends. He told me he produced charity rides. On our way out, I asked him, "If there is ever a time I organize a charity cancer ride, could you help?" "Yes," he said, "It is what I was born to do." Simon had survived cancer himself at a very young age.
In 2021, I became part owner of the pro cycling team Israel Premier Tech.
A year later, who signed with the team? Chris Froome. Wow. The first time I met him, I was star-struck. I started asking him question after question, and he politely answered them all. Then, I took a lot of photos with him.
A year or so later, I asked my partner, Sylvan Adams, if the team could send someone to help with a fundraiser for Dr. Azra Raza's cancer research. He said, "How about our best, Chris?" Wow, that would be amazing!
So I called Simon, and we organized the Dream to Cure charity event in 2023. Chris graced us with his generosity and humility. We captured videos of him riding side by side with each participant.
A couple of days later, at my birthday dinner, Chris surprised me with a gift. It was his Tour de France yellow jersey—the champion's jersey he wore when he won the Tour de France. And he signed it for me. I was so humbled.
Another dream come true.
How did this happen? I reflected.
No plan could have been written for this.
It was just a very high-level dream.
All heart. A little bit of mindfulness. And a lot of luck, but I call luck by her other names, Providence or the hand of God.
P.S. In a couple of weeks, my daughter Jessi and her good friend Bella will be interning at Columbia with Azra and staying with her at home. Wait until they see her living room full of books, where she had guests like Daniel Kahneman, Nobel laureate, give talks. It's priceless.
Thank you, Azra. Thank you, Sheher. Love you both.
My Life Questions:
We do not remember days, we remember moments.
Cesare Pavese (1908-1950)
What is your dream?
Your dreams a like a GPS. Your life will keep reorienting you to that want until you face the mountains and valleys that stand between you and that want.
It is scary to embark on a new road, where no path exists, to your Dream.
My Life Lessons Then (from my younger self):
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
1. Dream and connect by heart.
There is a pairing and need for every dream and fulfillment of your dream. Someone out there is looking for your heart, for your skills, for you. We play hide and seek, a metaphor to teach us that the things we seek are hidden but found when we seek.
2. Everything you do has value and is of use.
Many people thought I had ‘wasted’ my medical doctor dream. Azra, one of my great mentors and friends now, and I bonded and I was sitting with her, Sid, and the President of Columbia in New York Presbyterian Hospital for an hour. I hadn’t practiced medicine in two decades and there I was being introduced as Dr. Kevin Ham.
Those charity bike rides, 200 km in two days, trained me enough to be able to ride with the pro cycling team, riding in Israel, a place I had read about most of my life in the stories of the Bible. Then I met with the President of Israel with the cycling team. Wow.
3. Dreams are like clouds. Rains pour forth, but clouds also shield us from the sun.
Dreams inspire us but also they can feel so far out there, that they just remain dreams. Pray. Think. Speak. Act. On behalf of your dreams.
Life Advice Now (from my present 53 year old self):
In youth we learn; in age we understand.
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916)
1. Keep dreaming, even when things seem impossible. There is always a way.
Deep prayer, meditation, reflection and then thinking, speaking, writing, acting by heart is the key to our human powers. Our heart unlocks the doors that remain shut. The heart sees the way more than the eyes.
2. Life is a dream, even when it may seem like a nightmare.
The object of our want casts a deep shadow in the light of our hope and belief in our dreams. Don’t let the shadow fool you. Keep your eye on the object of your want. Let it be true. Let it be pure. Let it be heart. Let it be real. All true art is a reflection of our hearts.
3. Dream.
Go for it, always.
Next week:
Life Crisis: Teens. Mid-life. Late-life. End.
It isn’t a question of if, it’s a question of when.
The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.
W. M. Lewis (1878-1945)
See you next Thursday!
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