Doing The Impossible

When you make a world tolerable for yourself, you make a world tolerable to others.

Anais Nin
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Hello Sandy
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I went through a hellish time last week with a mountain of things wrong with this computer. Actually I think the computer was behaving itself, it did exactly what it was supposed to do. But the poor thing had been attacked by so many gremlins it was confused. There were files missing that couldn't be found, windows blocking the forward motion that wouldn't go away. strange pages popping up no one could explain. All in all, over 5 days I spent 18 hours on the phone.

One of the Vagabond Journey readers, Geo, offered the opinion that the hours I spent on the phone were ultimately going to make it easier for the next person. Certainly AOL, Verizon and HP keep records of the transactions so that other technicians can read up on what went on and how the problems were resolved. So, in a sense, I was blazing a trail for future clients with similar problems.

That makes me think about and be grateful for some of the trails I tread on that have been set down by others before me, problems solved that I don't have to face, people who struggled to make the world more tolerable for themselves and therefore for me.

In the case of one crucial file I was told that it could not be found, that it was permanently lost and was impossible to be restored. But a subsequent phone call brought me a man named Chris who did find it and restore it. He did the impossible.

I occasionally mention my elementary school science teacher who proclaimed that man would never fly to the moon because it was impossible. It was a well known fact that we could never get beyond the Earth's atmosphere. Then along came Werner von Braun and the Saturn V rocket. It did the impossible and we went to the moon.

In the film "Sea of Love" Al Pacino has a scene in which he plays two conflicting actions at the same moment. That is an impossibility for an actor. But he did it, so it is no longer impossible.

It was impossible for a human being to run a mile in less than 4 minutes until Roger Bannister did it.

Every day scientists, engineers, technicians, physicians, philosophers, artists, athletes, designers and craftspeople are confronting the impossible. And every now and then one of them does it.

There are those who would like to return to positions we have outgrown, to restore conditions that have been improved and, even worse, there are those who even refuse to believe that any progress has been made. I think the way to make the world tolerable for the human race is simply to not tolerate the impossible. What's next? If it can not be done, let's do it.

DB - The Vagabond
Never Give Up
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AUTUMN QUESTION

What event over the past year changed your life, a lot or a little?

2 answers so far.

dbdacoba@aol.com

I await your answer.
DB
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