\nHow many of you had dreams when you were young? More importantly, how many of you followed through on those dreams? It’s okay for certain aspirations to fall by the wayside, because let’s be real – sometimes they aren’t meant to be. When Micky Thornton was a little boy, he dreamed of doing something that people weren’t sure he would follow through with. For a while, it seemed like he wasn’t sure he would follow through with it either.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Reach for the stars[\/post_page_title]
\nWe\u2019re always encouraged to dream big when we\u2019re young, and many of us do. But even when we reach for the stars, unfortunately there are times where we sometimes fall short of our goals.
\n
\nIt all comes down to perseverance through adversity – and when it came to Micky Thornton, he was one man who persevered through it all. Ever since he was a little boy, he had a dream to build his own swimming pool – and he never gave up.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Atypical[\/post_page_title]
\nWhen most people are kids, they generally don\u2019t dream of building their own swimming pool.
\n
\nThey dream of getting a new video game, or a new bicycle, or maybe their own pony, depending on their preference. But at the age of ten, Micky wasn\u2019t your typical child. He wanted a swimming pool – and more importantly, he wanted to build it himself. But this desire was too big for a child his age – and it would take a while till he could finally turn it into a reality.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Detailed plans[\/post_page_title]
\nMicky Thornton told a news station about how it all started out. He said that he first had the idea when he was only \u201cnine or ten years old.\u201d
\n
\nEven as young as he was, he already had detailed plans for how he wanted the pool to look. He wanted the pool to be \u201clarge in the deep end\u201d – but large enough that someone could swim around and not feel like they were \u201ctrapped in a little box.\u201d
\n
\n[post_page_title]Pushing them off[\/post_page_title]
\nBut although the ideas he had were pretty impressive for someone his age, it would be a lot harder to turn them into a reality.
\n
\nIn fact, it would be nearly three decades before Micky even started working on the swimming pool. Perhaps \u201cthe real world\u201d got in the way – but what makes this story so inspiring is that he came back to his original plan. Even though it seemed crazy, he stuck to his vision, and started building.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Bringing it back[\/post_page_title]
\nHe might have been 39 years old, but Micky probably felt like a little kid when he first started working on his swimming pool.
\n
\nAfter all, it was during his childhood years that he originally conceived of the idea – so it makes sense that he\u2019d be giddy about it all. The year was 1993, and he was living in Covington, Tennessee. He realized that the time was now – and if he didn\u2019t at least try to make it happen, would it ever take place?
\n
\n[post_page_title]Learning on the fly[\/post_page_title]
\nOnce he got started, he realized that it was a lot easier said than done. The first thing he focused on was digging a hole – and it ended up being a total of 20 feet deep!
\n
\nThis was clearly a do-it-yourself situation, and he was learning everything on the fly. He didn\u2019t have access to professional lining or tiles, so he had to use a polyethylene mat for the floor of the pool. But even though things weren\u2019t moving fast, at least they were moving.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Not perfect[\/post_page_title]
\nMicky didn\u2019t care about the fact that the pool wasn\u2019t perfect yet, or even \u201cprofessional\u201d looking.
\n
\nThe only thing that mattered to him was that he had finally started working on it. Now that he had gotten the ball rolling, he could finally see what needed to be done to make it as perfect as possible. There were certainly a lot of hardships along the way – but he was dealing with them. Of course, he had to accommodate the needs of others as well\u2026
\n
\n[post_page_title]Input from the Mrs.[\/post_page_title]
\nFor instance, his wife was a big factor in some of the pool planning – especially in regards to its location.
\n
\nShe knew very well how much the pool meant to him, and she by all means supported him throughout it all. That being said, she wasn\u2019t too keen on him building the pool close to the pavement of their house. She said that \u201che had had to move it out some.\u201d As you can see, obstacles come in many forms, but Micky kept his eyes on the prize.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Improving the floor[\/post_page_title]
\nOkay, so for the majority of the mid-90s, Micky had himself a pretty big pool – but there were certain aspects about it that were still kind of amateur-like.
\n
\nFor instance, the floor of the pool was still lined with polyethylene, and that made it seem less professional. He knew that if he wanted people to take his pool seriously, he needed to instill it with some state of the art materials. In the late 90s, he finally made that happen.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Filtering that H2O[\/post_page_title]
\nIn the years leading up to the new millennium, Micky refurbished the floor of the pool, so that it was no longer lined with polyethylene.
\n
\nBut that wasn\u2019t the only thing he did in those years. He also addressed a number of the issues regarding the water filtration. In order to keep the pool clean, he was forced to create his very own water filter system. Slowly but surely, his pool was getting better and better.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Waterfalls[\/post_page_title]
\nIt was at this time that Micky had pretty much covered all the important things in regards to the foundations of the pool.
\n
\nIt was clean, it looked nice, and it looked professional – but he wasn\u2019t done there. Now it was time to make his pool stand out above the rest. So what did he do? He installed a waterfall into the pool! Talk about something to get the folks excited. But he was far from done.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Unique structure[\/post_page_title]
\nAnother feature Micky installed that he knew would make the pool truly exceptional was a rocky design.
\n
\nHe added a whole plethora of rocks to make the pool look even more unique, and it certainly looked like his pool was shaping up. However, it wouldn\u2019t be till 15 years later, in year 2013, that he really took things to another level. It seems that once Micky had gotten started, he kept looking to make his pool better and better.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Impressive resources[\/post_page_title]
\nAlthough the rocks served the pool well for 15 years, Micky wanted to take things up a top notch. In 2013, he had it professionally refurbished so that it looked as professional as possible.
\n
\nIn fact, Thornton claims that he used 20 tons of steel rebar on his pool. In addition, he had about 320 yards of gunite applied as well, which is a hard substance made out of cement, water, and sand – and something that’s used often to line tunnels.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Mini-waterpark[\/post_page_title]
\nAt this point, the pool looks so good that people are coming from far and wide to see it.
\n
\nBut these people aren\u2019t just coming because the pool merely looks beautiful – they\u2019re coming because the pool is practically a waterpark. Yes, you heard us correctly. Micky didn\u2019t just want people to feel like they were in paradise when they saw his pool – he wanted them to let loose in a way that allowed them to have good old fashioned fun.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Tire swing and more[\/post_page_title]
\nLet\u2019s talk a little bit about the different fun things that exist in Micky\u2019s pool. We already established that there\u2019s a wonderful waterfall.
\n
\nBut there\u2019s also one of the coolest diving boards you\u2019ve ever seen – one that you can\u2019t resist jumping off of. And then of course, there is the rope swing. This really is the cherry on top when it comes to having fun in Micky\u2019s pool, and it\u2019s one of the reasons that so many people are coming to check it out.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Open season[\/post_page_title]
\nYou might be thinking to yourself, it makes sense that people would want to check out Micky\u2019s pool, and have fun there too. But what gives them the right to do so?
\n
\nIs Micky okay with them checking it out? Well, it turns out that Micky is an extremely generous person, and he was originally more than happy to allow people to swim in his pool – free of charge! For him, it was always about sharing the happiness.
\n
\n[post_page_title]New cover charge[\/post_page_title]
\nBut even though Micky had such a giving attitude, and didn\u2019t require payment, eventually people started insisting on paying him for a swim.
\n
\nAs time went on, Micky conceded that he should probably charge people to swim there – even if it makes him uncomfortable. Nowadays, people are more than welcome to swim in the pool, provided that they give a small donation. But people have no problem shelling out their money, because the pool is that awesome!
\n
\n[post_page_title]Quite popular[\/post_page_title]
\nNow that Micky has an organized payment plan in regards to people coming to swim in his pool, it\u2019s added a level of professionalism to the whole deal.
\n
\nThey\u2019ve never been short of visitors, and the pool is as popular as ever. In fact, they even have a Facebook page that allows people to reserve a time slot to come swim there. It seems that the Thorntons have themselves a fully fledged business, and a thriving one at that!
\n
\n[post_page_title]Impressive guests[\/post_page_title]
\nIndeed, not only do they rent out their pool to informal parties, but they also have many reservations made for more established groups, weddings, and birthday parties as well.
\n
\nIf you want a great example of this, consider that the entire Japanese national baseball team enjoyed themselves a nice swim when they were in town. That right there shows that Micky has built himself a pretty amazing business. But the fun doesn\u2019t stop there – the pool is used for other services as well.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Useful in many ways[\/post_page_title]
\nIn addition to services related to fun and games, Micky\u2019s pool has been a place where folks have made the choice to baptize their children.
\n
\nHe hasn\u2019t kept a record of how many people have done it there, but he estimates that \u201cover 400 people\u201d have done performed the religious service over there. He says he thinks it\u2019s \u201ckind of neat,\u201d and we certainly agree with him. This is one pool that pretty much does it all.
\n
\n[post_page_title]Stick to your goal[\/post_page_title]
\nAs we said earlier, dreams are the type of things that can stick with us for a long time, but if you don\u2019t nurture them into reality, they can easily fade away.
\n
\nMicky had a dream that he never forgot about, no matter how many years had passed. And even when he was his late 30s, he knew that it wasn\u2019t too late to start working on it. Clearly it has paid off for him quite a lot, and we can certainly learn a lot from his story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How many of you had dreams when you were young? More importantly, how many of you followed through on those dreams? It’s okay for certain aspirations to fall by the wayside, because let’s be real – sometimes they aren’t meant to be. When Micky Thornton was a little boy, he dreamed of doing something that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":72773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n