It Couldn’t Be Done

In my last post, I talked about the headache I received from running into the wall of unrealistic expectations. After I wrote it, I started searching for some motivational food for thought. My search led me to a poem that gave me courage and put renewed hope into my soul to press on.

It’s amazing how rocky the road to recovery can be (much like the road of life at times). If the truth were told, when you’re getting over or moving through something, it’s critical to keep your motivation strong. Keeping the right attitude towards what you can and can’t do is key. It also is important to avoid the trap of buying too easily into what people say you can’t do.

This poem, written by Edgar Guest (1881-1959), is an attitude lifter. May it inspire you to press on and not give up climbing your mountains in the face of messages telling you to quit.

IT COULDN’T BE DONE

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.

So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it!

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it.”
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure,
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing
That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

One of the areas in my life where I apply these words is to my future running prospects. I’ve been told I will never run again. That may be true but I’m not willing to believe it to be my final answer UNTIL I TRY FOR MYSELF.

I’ve read too many stories of people who have overcome incredible odds and accomplished feats no one thought was possible. I’m not blind or deaf to the reality of how things are now very different for me. What I am choosing to see and hear is the power of an “I can do” attitude.

A final word: The phrase “I will at least try” will take you a lot further in life than giving up after being told “You’ll never do that again!”

What have you been told you can’t do?
How does choosing to live with an “I will try” attitude look like for you?

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