Today, I would like you to do something impossible.

Now please don’t use this as an excuse to try to fly, and then blame me when you break some bones! I’m not talking about doing any of those things that the laws of physics deem impossible. Although, the physicists do keep discovering and learning more about what is physically possible.

I’m asking you to look at what you have or do not have in your life, and think about how that reflects what you believe is possible or not possible for your life.

When you believe something is possible, you are motivated to go for it, try, persist, until you achieve. For example, if you believe it is possible for you to get a college degree, then you will research to find a suitable college, you’ll apply, you’ll study, you’ll persist, and you’ll complete your course requirements. When things get tough, you’ll talk to family and friends who encourage you to stick with it, you’ll get a tutor, you’ll spend extra time on the harder assignments. In the end, you will get that degree because you believed it was possible and so you made it happen.

If you doubt something is possible, maybe because of let-downs and discouragement, you don’t put in your best effort, you give up quickly, you might even sabotage opportunities that do come up for you! For example, suppose you believe you are doomed to be alone forever, never to find the love of your life. You will mope around, not go out to events, and not make eye-contact with potential suitors. You might even turn down dates, thinking, no way, as soon as they get to know me they’ll move on and leave me high and dry. You will fulfill your own sad, hopeless prophecy of impossibility, because your beliefs about yourself and what you can have in your life don’t allow you to find the love you want.

So I want you to think of something you consider impossible and figure out a way to do to make it possible.

For example, you think: it’s impossible to lose weight. Hmmm, is there something you could do that is possible? It’s possible that you could start tracking your calorie intake. It’s possible that you could cut back 100 calories a day. It’s possible that you could start taking the stairs instead of the elevator. It’s possible that you could lose 1 pound this month. Oh wow, you actually lost 4 pounds this month? You’ve just done the impossible!

It’s impossible to be nice to that coworker/neighbor/driver-who-cut-me-off. C’mon! I bet it actually is physically possible for you to contort the muscles of your face into the semblance of something that looks more like a smile than a grimace, and point that face in their direction! See, you did it! You were just nice to them! And now you’re laughing at your own ridiculous attempt at a smile and you’ve forgotten what they did to upset you in the first place. Oh wait, that’s right, you remember again and, grrr, who acts like that?! Well, it’s possible that they are having a horrible day, so horrible you’d actually feel bad for them if you heard what was going on. It’s possible that they are deep in thought about their own troubles and completely oblivious of that rude thing they did to annoy you so much. It’s possible that they are so lost in the Dark Forest that negative attention is better than no attention and you were the closest human being…

Consider yourself hereby challenged to do something impossible!

I invite you to post your amazing feats of impossibility, big or baby steps, in the comments. =)