Redefining the Impossible

Vardo gave me an awesome birthday gift recently—she framed a bunch of different sayings/mottos that she found in a book given to her by some of our friends. [Speaking of Vardo, she is now Aunt Vardo—her brother and his wife had twins last week, and she is, as near as I can tell, bouncing off the walls with pride over her nieces. If you haven’t visited her blog lately (or ever), she’s got pictures…check out www.imwisconsin.blogspot.com for all of the aunt-ly pride.]

The sayings are things like “create memories”, “believe in yourself”, “have an adventure”, and “see for yourself” (among many others), but the one that my eye continues to hit first is “redefine the impossible”. I think that phrase really captures the past year of my life in a simple but elegant phrase. “Impossible” is a word that I’ve used in the past to describe many things, like the odds of me running a marathon or voluntarily getting up in the morning to exercise…things that are no longer impossible but wholly conquerable. It still amazes me that the human spirit can turn things around so quickly (or what seems quickly, at least)—one can go from a state of near despair to a state of euphoria just by changing one’s attitude and lifestyle, or, at least, that’s what happened in my life. I’m not sure what I would define as impossible now—at this point, I’ve ended up eating so many words I’m thankful they don’t have WW points attached to them—could be I’ve finally caught onto the fact that I really can do anything if I put my mind to it. That’s probably the coolest thing that’s happened on my weight loss journey—and certainly the most empowering.

So, the wall that I hit on my first marathon doesn’t seem so tall anymore…while the last couple of miles were tough, they certainly weren’t impossible, and now that I know what to expect, the next race won’t be as rough. Same thing applies to IM, I think—I know it’ll be a long, tough day, but I also know that what I originally thought of as impossible is totally within my reach…and damn it, I’m going to reach it.

So, Vardo, thanks for the gift—it rocks, as does our friendship, and allow me to state for about the millionth time that I’m so psyched we’re doing this IM thing together (well, from a distance, but together in spirit, at least). It’s hanging in my bathroom so I can see it before I leave in the morning and right before I go to bed at night (plus, if you know me at all, you know I do some of my best thinking in that particular room). It’s there to remind me to “be new and improved”, “make every moment count”, “create balance”, “live good”, and, of course, “redefine the impossible”.