These are challenging times. Everywhere you turn there is bad news, or so it seems. Frustration breeds despair and despair drives decisions that are often uncertain and reckless.

I keep hearing the word, “impossible” thrown around by people from all walks of life. “Recover from this economic collapse? Impossible!” “Save my business? Impossible!” “Return to normality? Impossible!” “Find common ground with THOSE guys? Impossible!”

But, have you ever wondered what you could accomplish in your life if the word “impossible” were to be removed from your vocabulary?

Remember the biblical story about Jesus walking on water? You say, “Come on, man. That’s just a fable.” Fine. Believe what you will. No matter how you read it…it’s still a great story with a valuable lesson.

Check out the scene:

• Twelve of Jesus’ bro’s are in a boat out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.
• They have been rowing hard against a storm for four to five hours.
• They are cold, soaking wet, exhausted and fearful.
• It’s a life-threatening circumstance.
• Out of nowhere, their leader appears—walking on top of the very thing that’s trying to kill them.
• Peter sees Jesus standing on a surface he knows for a fact won’t support his weight…but he gets out of the boat, willing to disregard the circumstances and take that first step.

“Well, under the circumstances…” is a common excuse. But tell me, why would you want to live your life there?  Have you ever wondered why Jesus was walking on the water in the first place? I mean, come on! It’s impossible for a man to walk on water. But I believe he did it to show us that you CAN be on “top” of your circumstances, and he did it to prove that impossible is nothing.

In 1974 Adidas took a statement from Muhammad Ali and turned it into one of, if not THE greatest advertising slogans in history. Ali said, “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they have been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It is an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It is a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

If you’re going to try to do the impossible, there will be many who are only too happy to tell you in excruciating detail how you can’t do it. Ignore them. Face life’s impossibilities head on in spite of the fact that someone else has “proven” that it’s impossible.

In the movie, “Field of Dreams”, James Earl Jones’ character said, “You know we just don’t recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they’re happening. Back then I thought, well, there’ll be other days. I didn’t realize that that was the only day.”

Waiting for the right circumstances is a waste of time, because circumstances are almost never right. You can always find a good reason not to attempt it. But those willing to disregard the circumstances and take that first step will find the truth of T.S. Eliot’s statement, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.”

If you don’t “get out of the boat”, you can never walk on water; you can never do the impossible. Metaphorically, I believe that water longs to be “walked upon” and waits expectantly for the one with the courage to attempt the impossible.

Don’t take counsel from your detractors.

Get out of the boat.

Impossible is nothing.

RG…out!