The Impossible Goal

Don’t wish for a better day.  Just be glad and use the one you’re in.

 Everyone that I know has a story or an explanation as to why they are who they are.  For some it was a privileged upbringing.  For some it was a rough childhood or an even rougher adolescence.  For the greater majority, growing up was pretty well a normal thing with the usual happenings of happiness and joy, sadness and loss, cuts and bruises and fun and adventure.  Whatever experiences they went through, though, has helped to create and shape and form the “who” they are today.

 As a youngster growing up in Newfoundland, we three brothers had the pleasure of some unique experiences.  One of the biggest of which was helping our father to landscape the yard.  Well, at the time we didn’t think of it as “landscaping”, we thought of it as bondage.  Of course, there were many takes on this from my brothers and of course my father, but in retrospect, it was an incredible experience in which I learned a lot about work and a lot about people, and I am truly glad that I got to experience it. 

 For a few summers our mission was to, every morning, dig 50 wheelbarrow loads of topsoil out of the compacted forest floor, screen it for rocks and roots, carry it 100 yards in a heavy iron wheelbarrow and spread it out over the rough lawn.  If we reached 50 loads before lunchtime we were free to go swim in the river, ride our bikes or do whatever we wished as soon as the impossible goal was reached.

 My brother Geoff described the experience this way: “With Wade's leadership, your lightheartedness (that would be me) and my (Geoff) determination, we three children achieved what we thought to be impossible. I recall a feeling of success and elation when we actually reached that target set by Dad.  Wade lead the way with the same goal.... today we will do it.  And we did it...maybe not on the first day or in the first week, but on the second really serious try. I remember thinking dully through the haze of flies, sunburn and aching hands, "Yes, we did it and we can do it again”. Y'know, there really is a positive side to the story...as there is for every story about adversity and effort.  Observers only see the obvious challenge and visible results, not all the effort and strife and motivations that each person puts into the project.  This then becomes a story about co-operation, goals and effort.  Too bad that all challenges can't be met this way and even worse that we can't always be successful.  I wish at the time I could have seen this as I do now.”

 As I read the words from my brother, I am struck with the immensity of the realism of his observations; Success is all in how you look at your challenges! You can take something that others would call drudgery and, with the right frame of mind, make it an experience to learn from and to be motivated by.  As with everything that we do in life, if there could be more cooperation towards the completion of our projects and less complaining about how hard things are, then I truly believe that we could create an attitude of “Sure I can do that!”

 Of course, there is always the challenge of the different personalities that are in the mix.  I know that I drove my brothers crazy with, as Geoff puts it, my lightheartedness.  I was always looking for an easy way out, or another way to do something, while Geoff had this dogged determination that no matter what the situation, he was going to prove that he was tough enough to rise to the challenge.  Wade, on the other hand, had this wonderful ability to get us all working together on the same goal at the same time while using all of our unique abilities in concert with each other.  And then there was Dad.  He was the visionary.  He set the goal, and he communicated it clearly to us and then he got out of the way and let us do it our way.  He didn’t stand over us and insist that we do it his way and then take over when we didn’t, he just delegated and departed.  Every evening when he came home from work, he would survey the work done and congratulate us on our hard days work.  I thrived on that praise.

 This week, as you are working on the projects and working with the people who share your life, make a daily effort to work in cooperation with what each day brings.  There will be many different personalities and many different working conditions that will arise and that you will have to work through. But, if you keep the spirit of determination to see it through, maintain a positive outlook on the experience and strive daily to achieve your set goals, you will be able to rest your head every night on your pillow without any feelings of guilt or regret and say “Today, I did my best. I am not afraid of what tomorrow may bring and from that perspective I am successful”. 

 Make an Impact!

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