Faith, Dumb Luck, Perseverance, and an Influx of Cash
I'm not going to say that all things are possible. I'm not nearly that Susie Sunshine about the world and my role in it. Faith will only get me so far. Some things simply are not possible, no matter how much I hope, pray, and/or wish on stars. I'm never going to be able to sing well enough to sing in public (not even at bad karaoke night) or run a sub-three hour marathon (that ship has long since sailed). I could list all kinds of things I would love to do, but just can't and will never. I am just not physically capable and I'm ok with it. Because for every impossibility, there are an equal number of possibilities. And (AND) a few of those impossibilities can become possibilities. I've lived it. I've done things people said I never would, things I said I never would. I can't say it had anything to do with faith (I acknowledged little in those days); it was more like dumb luck and mindless perseverance.
1. I was cut from my high school tennis team in my sophomore year. I went on to play four years of college tennis, became a teaching pro,and coached high school tennis for four years.
2. They said she was too pretty, too smart, too everything to date me. She asked me out, we fell in love, and I still call it the best relationship I've ever had.
3. I couldn't string beads in pre-K. They said I was developmentally slow. I was the only one in my kindergarten class who could read and graduated in the top 2% of my high school class.
4. I nearly failed junior high school PE because I couldn't run the 'cross country' course fast enough. I took up running in college and ended up winning the Wichita Marathon in 1993 at the age of 24.
5. I was a civilian with no prior military service who wanted to be an Intel Officer in the United States Navy.
They said I had a snowball's chance in Hell of making the cut. I was offered one of the few Intel officer billets available in 2001.
6. I wanted to be a Human Resource Manager with a major big box retailer. I was just a lowly hourly associate with HR experience. They weren't too sure about me yet fourteen months later I was the H.R. Manager at the store I helped open in Texarkana, Texas.
I'm light-years from goal-oriented so I can't say I set goals and worked towards them. I guess I did, but I was far from fanatical. If it came to be, it came to be. If it didn't? I would have been cool with that, too. I've failed at a lot in my life, so it's not really a big deal to me. I still have 'goals' and I still feel the same way - I can take them or leave them. I'm good with what I've got. Anything else is icing on the cake.
I do have a Bucket List of sorts. It's just a list of things that would be cool to do before I die. Most of the list might be classified as 'impossible'. I have more faith now than ever, but I don't see that as being overly beneficial. Impossible is impossible. Sometimes. But sometimes not. I mean, am I really going to marry Ashley Judd? Mmmm.... Let's be realistic. It's a stretch at best. I'll go with almost nearly impossibly impossible. Faith isn't going to do much to help that one. And prayer? Pleeeeeeeeze God, pleeeeeeeeeze. Yeah, I don't see it working. Ok, I do have a few other things that might be a tad bit more do-able - publish a book (Hell, with the right influx of cash, I can do that all on my own...not that anyone would ever buy it), hike The Camino in Spain (again, with the right influx of cash), live on the beach in Mexico (again with the cash), complete a Masters in Divinity and become an ordained spiritual leader (yep, you guessed it - cash), and be invited to 'preach' at Six Flags Over Jesus in Texarkana (otherwise known as the First Baptist Church on Moores Lane) where I will say the words 'God damn' in a sermon and live to tell the tale (I think I'll need more dumb luck than cash in this case).
See the common denominator when trying to turn the impossible into the possible? It's money, folks, and lots of it. I believe in faith and putting affirmative energy out into the Universe, but really. Really. All that can only get me so far and I feel horrible and far too typically Christian to ask God for money. Even if I would use it for the betterment of the world. I think in the case of my Bucket List, I'm going to have to keep faith but fall back on dumb luck and perseverance. I should probably also start playing the lottery regularly. In my life, money doesn't grow on trees or come easy. Of course neither does impossible. If only I had something on my Bucket List that was free. I suppose I'll do what I've always done - keep my eyes on the prize and do my best to get there. Dumb luck and perseverance have gotten me this far. A little faith can't hurt. Yeah, that and a few million from the Texas Lottery Commission.
1. I was cut from my high school tennis team in my sophomore year. I went on to play four years of college tennis, became a teaching pro,and coached high school tennis for four years.
2. They said she was too pretty, too smart, too everything to date me. She asked me out, we fell in love, and I still call it the best relationship I've ever had.
3. I couldn't string beads in pre-K. They said I was developmentally slow. I was the only one in my kindergarten class who could read and graduated in the top 2% of my high school class.
4. I nearly failed junior high school PE because I couldn't run the 'cross country' course fast enough. I took up running in college and ended up winning the Wichita Marathon in 1993 at the age of 24.
5. I was a civilian with no prior military service who wanted to be an Intel Officer in the United States Navy.
They said I had a snowball's chance in Hell of making the cut. I was offered one of the few Intel officer billets available in 2001.
6. I wanted to be a Human Resource Manager with a major big box retailer. I was just a lowly hourly associate with HR experience. They weren't too sure about me yet fourteen months later I was the H.R. Manager at the store I helped open in Texarkana, Texas.
I'm light-years from goal-oriented so I can't say I set goals and worked towards them. I guess I did, but I was far from fanatical. If it came to be, it came to be. If it didn't? I would have been cool with that, too. I've failed at a lot in my life, so it's not really a big deal to me. I still have 'goals' and I still feel the same way - I can take them or leave them. I'm good with what I've got. Anything else is icing on the cake.
I do have a Bucket List of sorts. It's just a list of things that would be cool to do before I die. Most of the list might be classified as 'impossible'. I have more faith now than ever, but I don't see that as being overly beneficial. Impossible is impossible. Sometimes. But sometimes not. I mean, am I really going to marry Ashley Judd? Mmmm.... Let's be realistic. It's a stretch at best. I'll go with almost nearly impossibly impossible. Faith isn't going to do much to help that one. And prayer? Pleeeeeeeeze God, pleeeeeeeeeze. Yeah, I don't see it working. Ok, I do have a few other things that might be a tad bit more do-able - publish a book (Hell, with the right influx of cash, I can do that all on my own...not that anyone would ever buy it), hike The Camino in Spain (again, with the right influx of cash), live on the beach in Mexico (again with the cash), complete a Masters in Divinity and become an ordained spiritual leader (yep, you guessed it - cash), and be invited to 'preach' at Six Flags Over Jesus in Texarkana (otherwise known as the First Baptist Church on Moores Lane) where I will say the words 'God damn' in a sermon and live to tell the tale (I think I'll need more dumb luck than cash in this case).
See the common denominator when trying to turn the impossible into the possible? It's money, folks, and lots of it. I believe in faith and putting affirmative energy out into the Universe, but really. Really. All that can only get me so far and I feel horrible and far too typically Christian to ask God for money. Even if I would use it for the betterment of the world. I think in the case of my Bucket List, I'm going to have to keep faith but fall back on dumb luck and perseverance. I should probably also start playing the lottery regularly. In my life, money doesn't grow on trees or come easy. Of course neither does impossible. If only I had something on my Bucket List that was free. I suppose I'll do what I've always done - keep my eyes on the prize and do my best to get there. Dumb luck and perseverance have gotten me this far. A little faith can't hurt. Yeah, that and a few million from the Texas Lottery Commission.
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