Day #7: “It Can’t Be Done!”
“The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can’t are both right. Which one are you?”
~Henry Ford
I was told recently, though not in so many words, to give it up. To trade in my shoes; to close the door on my envisioned glories. I was challenged, though not so directly, to trade in the dream, t0 comply with society’s definition of success, to – in a word – go back to sleep.
Everything worth doing will butt against the status quo, will scream out against the way it is with a shrill dissonance. And so, when you dream up something big – something great – something supremely human, you will be told it cannot be done, and those telling you so might even laugh.
What is it you are dreaming of doing? What glory waits around the bend of the future? Which thing beckons to you to come and try?
Or to put it another way – what are you being told not to try? Which glories of the past are you told cannot be bettered?
Whatever your answer, go do it. Prove the cynics and the scoffers wrong.
Years ago, I dreamed of playing college soccer and I dreamed of running in the Olympic Trials in the marathon. In both cases, my dreams were met with doubt and sometimes outright scoffing. I accomplished the former – and missed the Trials by 3 minutes. To achieve my soccer dreams, I did what few others did – I practiced daily – alone at my neighborhood field. All summer long. I did my part – dreaming all the while. The memories gained through my years playing ball at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, are lifelong highlights – worth the world to me.
On the running front, the miles I logged solo in the rain and heat – in the middle of the night and at the break of morning – these miles are the stuff of my character. It was forged in those relentless workouts and fueled by an unwavering vision to achieve. And though I came up a few minutes short – just 8.6 seconds per mile off the Trials standard, when you break it down – it hardly matters to me now. For the passion the goal fueled was real for me and drove me to strive to win.
They say a thing cannot be done – discover what that thing is, and prove them wrong. Make it your passion to continue this running streak, to realize this dream!
One week accomplished. And they said it couldn’t be done…
Go do it!
~Coach Reed
