I have met so many people who have done the impossible. Actually, I’ve done the impossible several times myself. When I packed up and moved a home cross country and drove myself, a double bass and two dogs well over a thousand miles to our new destination. When I ended a relationship that I thought would be impossible to end, and when I packed up children and moved to Queens NY to start a job in a city that terrified me with its immensity. Each time the task seemed impossible, and each time I pulled it off.
I’m far from unique. Each of you reading this could add your own stories of the impossible things you’ve accomplished. And I’ve met so many people who do the impossible on a daily basis: The amazing woman who gives me a pedicure when I decide to allow myself the luxury, told me she knew no English when she arrived from Vietnam, and watched cartoons on television to learn the language. She then once asked a client if she could cut her toe, instead of cut her toenail. Yet she had not been daunted by her inability to speak the language, she started looking for strategies to help her learn.
It seems to me the difference in what is and isn’t possible is simply our take on it. I often ask folks in my classes what they’ve done that they thought was impossible, and I’m always impressed. Answers include coming here from a different country with no job, knowing no one. Quitting a job where they were disrespected, with no job prospects in sight. Speaking at a large meeting when they were terrified to get up in front of others, and the list goes on.
Seems when we can remind ourselves and others that impossible is only a word someone has assigned to a task and not a definitive answer, then we are well on our way to making the impossible happen. Nelson Mandela reminded us, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
