We all know that life is difficult, but no-one begins on that journey without having dreams and ambitions. As we get older and encounter experiences, we suffer failures and setbacks and events beyond our control begin to determine our destiny. This is when most people are tempted to give up on their dreams and develop different belief systems. In this Ted Talk, Dr Patrick Treacy shows us how he reframed obstructions in his life as opportunities by holding onto his dreams. His challenges dealing with a HIV positive needlestick as a doctor in a period where there was no cure, becoming a prisoner of Saddam Hussein while visiting Halabja before the outbreak of the Gulf War, and smuggling cars in order to fund his way thorough medical school when Margaret Thatcher's new government policy deprived him of his educational grant. Thankfully, he never developed AIDS and he left Iraq to pursue his dreams of becoming a Flying Doctor. he tells us that when giving up on your dreams is tempting, that is the time when you need to pursue them more than ever. He shows us not to have any regrets – and not to live in the always thinking about what might have been. One must find a lesson in every failure and apply it to discover your ultimate purpose in life and connect every decision you take back to that purpose.