Nothing

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in a world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it.

Impossible is not a fact.  It’s an opinion.

Impossible is not a declaration.  It’s a dare.

Impossible is potential.

Impossible is temporary.

Impossible is nothing.

- Mohammed Ali

I have this quote on the front of a notebook filled with my list of 101 things that I am going to accomplish in the next 1001 days.  As you know, some of the things on the list are simple:  keep fresh flowers in the house year-round, go to the Pendleton Round-up, call Mom once a week. 

Then there are those which will take a lot of time and effort to accomplish:  make a wool quilt for Scott to take reenacting, take an online class each term, become an instructor at work, donate and save as much money as I spend. 

Others are more difficult because of the time and/or money involved:  PR a marathon, camp alone at least three nights, see a Steeler game at Heinz field. 

And a few seem to fall into that “impossible” category:  climb Mt. Hood, lose 90 pounds, hike the Pacific Crest Trail across Oregon from the California border to the Washington border.

But there really aren’t any impossible goals on my list.  Each and every one is attainable.  With the patience, hard work, dedication, and willingness to sacrifice to make them happen.

It’s easy to call my Mom once a week.  Pick up the phone and do it.  And it’s enjoyable.  Mom is fun to talk to.  She is still a busy lady.  She has friends and kids and work and church to tell me about.  And, of course, I love her.  So calling Mom once a week isn’t a chore at all.

Donating and saving as much money as I spend will take some self-discipline and self-sacrifice.  Even though we are just talking about my “personal” budget, not the family budget, to slash it into thirds is easy on paper.  But in reality it is tough.  While it is fun to imagine the savings growing and growing, and it is satisfying to make those donations, it is hard to realize that some of the other things on my list are going to take a while longer if I stick to this one.  Yes, you’re right:  I am an American and I hate to say no to myself.

Which leads me to some of those “impossible” tasks.  Let’s be honest, people climb Mt. Hood and hike the PCT all the time.  People who know what they are doing.  People who have prepared.  People who have the right equipment.  People who are in shape.  So it seems that in order to accomplish those two tasks I am going to have to succeed in that other impossible task:  lose 90 pounds.  Because I can’t climb a 11,249 foot tall mountain or hike 430 miles in the late summer/early fall when I am furloughed from work (maybe 6 weeks of time to do it before the rains start up) if I am lugging all of this extra weight with me.  And so out of shape that you can hear me gasping for air half a mile away!

The great thing about this list is that right now, almost all of the things on it are impossible to complete this week.  There is so much time and effort and money involved in completing all 101 items, that it would be impossible to do it all right away.

But if I break down each task and tackle it one step at a time, this list moves from impossible to possible.

Finish my dad’s photo album?  Not right this minute.  But if I work on it for an hour a week, completing one section before I start on the next, labeling photos, and archiving documents as I go, I will find it is completed well before 2013.

Watch all of Katharine Hepburn’s movies?  Not this weekend.  But give me one movie a week and I can do it in 45 weeks.  And have a blast in the process.

Lose 90 pounds.  Not by New Year’s Day.  Or even by my birthday in April.  And the task looks nigh on impossible if I try to lose 90 pounds.  But lose 5 pounds, now that I can do.  And again.  And again.  And again.  I have over two years to get it done, so I know that I can do so.  And there is no reason I have to lose all the weight before I hike the PCT or scale Mt Hood or PR a marathon or run a race in sub-10:00 miles. 

Difficult?  You bet!  Hard work?  No doubt!  Impossible?  Not even close.

What impossible things can YOU accomplish?