Some years ago I took on an assignment in a southern county to work with people on public welfare. What I wanted to do was show that everybody has the capacity to be self-sufficient， and all we have to do is to activate them. I asked the county to pick a group of people who were on public welfare， people from different racial groups and different family constellations. I would then see them as a group for three hours every Friday. I also asked for a little 1)petty cash to work with， as I needed it.

The first thing I said after I shook hands with

everybody was， “I would like to know what your dreams are.” Everyone looked at me as if I were kind of 2)wacky.

“Dreams? We don’t have dreams.”

I said， “Well， when you were a kid what happened? Wasn’t there something you wanted to do?”

One woman said to me， “I don’t know what you can do with dreams. The rats are eating up my kids.”

“Oh，” I said. “That’s terrible. No， of course， you are very much involved with the rats and your kids. How can that be helped?”

“Well， I could use a new 3)screen door because there are holes in my screen door.”

I asked， “Is there anybody around here who knows how to fix a screen door?”

There was a man in the group， and he said， “A long time ago I used to do things like that， but now I have a terribly bad back， but I’ll try.”

I told him I had some money if he would go to the store， buy some 4)screening， and go and fix the lady’s screen door.

“Do you think you can do that?”

“Yes， I’ll try.”

The next week， when the group was seated， I said to the woman， “Well is your screen door fixed?”

“Oh， yes，” she said.

“Then we can start dreaming， can’t we?” She sort of smiled at me. I said to the man who did the work， “How do you feel?”

He said， “Well， you know， it’s a very funny thing. I’m beginning to feel a lot better.” That helped the group to begin to dream. These seemingly small successes allowed the group to see that dreams were not 5)insane. These small steps began to get people to see and feel that something really could happen.

I began to ask other people about their dreams. One woman shared that she always wanted to be a secre-tary. I said， “Well， what stands in your way?” (That’s always my next question.)

She said， “I have six kids， and I don’t have anyone to take care of them while I’m away.”

“Let’s find out，” I said.

“Is there anybody in this group who would take care of six kids for a day or two a week while this woman gets some training here at the community college?”

One woman said， “I got kids， too， but I could do that.”

“Let’s do it，” I said. A plan was created and the woman went to school.

Everyone found something. The man who put in the screen door became a 6)handyman. The woman who took in the children became a licensed foster care guardian. In 12 weeks I had all these people off public welfare. I’ve not only done that once， I’ve done it many times.

幾年前，我被委派到南部的一個鎮(zhèn)去指導依靠公共福利金生活的人。我想要告訴他們的是，每個人都有能力自給自足。我們所要做的就是激勵他們行動起來。我要求鎮(zhèn)里挑選一批依靠公共福利金生活的人，他們必須是來自不同種族，有著不同的家庭出身。然后，我會在每周五和他們這批人待上三個小時。我同時也要求在我需要時能獲得一小筆資金的支持。

我和這批人一一握手后問的第一個問題是：“我想知道你們的夢想是什么？”每個人都用一種異樣的眼光看著我，仿佛我是怪物。

“夢想？我們沒有夢想?！?/p>

我說：“那么，當你們還是個孩子的時候呢？沒有什么你想要做的事嗎？”

一位女士告訴我：“我不知道有夢想又能怎樣。老鼠就要吞掉我的孩子了。”

“哦，”我說，“那真糟。你老想著老鼠和你的孩子，那夢想當然沒什么用。怎樣才能幫到你呢？”

“這個……我也許需要一扇新的紗門。因為我的紗門有很多洞?！?/p>

我問：“這里有人知道怎么安裝紗門嗎？”

這批人里有個男人，他說：“很久以前，我常常做那樣的工作，但現(xiàn)在我的背痛得厲害，不過我會試試?！?/p>

我告訴他我有些錢，問他能否去商店買些網(wǎng)眼紗，然后去幫那位女士安裝紗門。

“你覺得你能做嗎？”

“嗯，我會試試。”

一周后，整批人坐好后，我對那位女士說：“你的紗門安裝好了嗎？”

“哦，是的。”她說。

“那么我們可以開始夢想了，不是嗎？”她對我笑了笑。我對那個安裝紗門的男人說：“你感覺如何？”

他說：“噢，你知道，這是件很有趣的事。我開始感覺好多了。”那使得整批人開始夢想起來了。這些看上去微不足道的成功使得整批人領會到，夢想并不愚蠢。這些小小的步驟開始讓人們看見并感受到有些東西真的會發(fā)生。

我開始詢問其他人的夢想。一位女士分享道，她一直想成為一名秘書。我說：“那么是什么阻礙你實現(xiàn)夢想呢？”（這總是我接著要問的問題）。

她說：“我有六個孩子。當我不在家時，我找不到人去照顧他們。”

“讓我們來看看有沒有解決辦法。”我說。

“這個組里有人每周能在這位女士在社區(qū)學院這里接受培訓的一兩天里照顧一下她的六個孩子嗎？”

一位女士說道：“我也有孩子，但我可以幫忙照看。”

“就這么辦?！蔽艺f。于是一個計劃出爐了，那位女士去上課了。

每個人都領悟到了一些東西。那個幫忙安裝紗門的男人成為了一名雜物工。那個幫忙照看孩子的女人成為了一名持有許可證的寄養(yǎng)服務師。十二周后，我使得這批人都不再依靠公共福利金生活。這樣的事，我不只成功了一次，而是已經(jīng)成功了好多次。