The Impossible

BY MICHAEL REISIG –

Someone recently sent me an absolutely amazing collection of World War II photos, and I was once again reminded of the character and sheer will of the American people during that difficult era, and the remarkable courage of the American serviceman. I was left in stunned silence at the end … rocked by the nearly impossible challenges we faced and somehow overcame.

Faced with the inconceivable, challenged by the insurmountable, time and again the American soldier, and worker, refused to be beaten, performing what quite clearly seemed the impossible.

I realized, looking at those old photos, that impossible is not written in stone. It’s an opinion. It’s not a declaration. It’s a dare. It’s a word used by people who find it easier to accept the world as it is, rather than obtain the power and conviction to change it.

Impossible falters at determination, it shirks at resolve, it’s frightened of decisiveness. It was determination and resolve, and decisiveness that I witnessed in the men and women of that collection of photos. And surprisingly enough, there was also a sense of joie de vivre in their eyes as well – a cheerfulness and a compassion that couldn’t be hammered out of them, and that too, is an essential part of overcoming the impossible.

Americans today are constantly flittering from one thing to the next in a frantic search for fulfillment. They are constantly demanding, and easily angered. The people in the pictures I saw had danced with death and destruction and had somehow not lost the essence of harmony and conscience. They had lived through an impossible time and survived. They knew impossible was just a word. They realized that when someone said, “That’s impossible,” they were making this assumption according to their limited experience and a slim understanding of reality. They knew that “impossible” was just an opinion.

The very world around us today is a collage of what was considered impossible just 50 years ago. We live in a time that 20^th Century science fiction novelists wrote about. I don’t know who said it, but I love the quote: “It’s impossible,” said pride. “It’s risky,” said experience. “It’s pointless,” said reason. “Give it a try,” whispered the heart.”

Granted, some things flirt with impossibility more than others. Whoever said, “nothing is impossible” never tried to staple water to a tree. But if you look at history – Christopher Columbus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Edison – some of the greatest accomplishments of mankind were preformed by those who didn’t accept that what they were doing was “impossible.”

I’ll leave you with a quote by the French philosopher, Denis Diderot: “It is passions, great passions, that elevate the soul to great things…”

About Author

Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

See author's posts