Episode 7

Friends, are you in a situation that you do not see any light at the end of the tunnel? Are you going through a tough time? Are you experiencing Red Sea Syndrome where you are in a tight spot, whether it is in your relationship, family situation, career? Don’t give up. Be a Himpossible Thinker like Mary.

Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, is considered the most awesome, fearsome, and most difficult mountain to conquer. A man by the name of Mallory led an expedition to climb and conquer it in the 1920’s.

His first and second expeditions failed. He made a third attempt with a team of qualified, well-trained, and talented people. Unfortunately, an avalanche hit the team. Mallory and a few of them were killed. Those who survived returned to England.

A banquet was organized to salute the courage of Mallory and his teammates who died. One of the men who had survived the expedition stood up to acknowledge the applause. He looked around the hall at the pictures of Mallory and those who had died.

Then he turned his back to those who had gathered to face the huge picture of Mount Everest which stood looming like a silent unconquerable giant picture. With tears streaming down his face, he addressed Mount Everest on behalf of Mallory and those who had perished with him.

“I speak to you, Mount Everest in the name of all the brave men living and those yet unborn.

Mount Everest,

You defeated us once;

You defeated us twice;

You defeated us thrice.

But Mount Everest, we shall defeat you one day,

because you can’t grow any bigger, but we can.”

True enough, in 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay officially became the first two men to conquer Mount Everest. Since then, many more have done so.

Are you facing the Mount Everest of Disappointment, Discouragement, Disillusionment, Defeat? You can conquer it. Speak to it.

“Mount Everest of Disappointment/Defeat/Discouragement/Defeat

You defeated me once;

You defeated me twice;

You defeated me thrice.

But Mount Everest,

I shall defeat you one day, because you can’t grow any bigger, but I can.”

This year might have been a bad year. Be a Himpossible Thinker and let next year be a good year. If this year has been a good year, next year can be a better year. This day, choose to be a Himpossible Thinker and see the deliverance of God from your difficult or impossible situation because with God nothing is impossible.   St. Francis of Assisi once said, “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”   

Conclusion

 Somebody said, “Winners and losers, leaders and followers—all of us have two voices jousting inside our heads. One says, ‘I can.’ The other says, ‘I can’t.’ The difference lies in which of those voices is winning. So whether ‘I can’t’ win or ‘I can’ win depends on which thought you are feeding in your mind. The thought you feed grows!”

Sometimes we get so busy staring at the closed door and banging our head against it that we fail to spot the other door opening. Learning to cope with failure is often the first and most critical step towards success. Trying does not always guarantee success. But not trying almost certainly ensures failure. For true success in life, develop the habit of perseverance. Perseverance pays. When success seems elusive, don’t give up. Don’t blame anyone. Persevere.  If you do that, success is sure to come. The ability to stick it out and persevere is priceless. The road to the top is long. It takes hard work, increasing levels of responsibility and consistent performance to progress in your career. Don’t expect to be rewarded for flashes of brilliance.   (Prakash Iyer)

Your beliefs about what you can or cannot do are the sum total of your past experiences. When you have an impossible attitude, your achievements will be at best limited, at worst zero. If you want to change the outcomes in your life, change impossible to Himpossible.

A Himpossible attitude attracts people while an impossible attitude repels. The former helps you to handle stress better. It is hard to beat a person who never gives up. There’s only one person who can set limits to your growth. And that person is YOU. For things to change, we must change. Even though not everything that is faced will change the way you want, yet nothing will change if you od not face it.   Confront your fears and you’ll conquer them.

A Himpossible never quits, an Impossible never wins.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit-

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a fellow  turns about
when he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow -

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man;

Often the struggler has given up

When he might have captured the victor's cup;

And he learned too late when the night came down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -

The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It might be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Failure holds valuable lessons, if only we are willing to learn. We seldom realize that we are so close to achieving our goals. Do remember that:

Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure.

It does mean you haven’t succeeded yet.

Failure doesn’t mean you have accomplished nothing.  It does mean you have learned something.

Failure doesn’t mean you should give up.

It does mean you must try harder.

Failure doesn’t mean you’ll never make it.

It does mean it will take a little longer.

Failure doesn’t mean God has abandoned you.  It does mean God has a better idea.

(Robert H. Schuller)

                                —–

Doctor Louis Banks, an old Methodist preacher, shared an interesting story.

One day a boy came to his father and said, “Dad, it’s just six weeks before I will be going to college and I was wondering if you were going to give me a going-away present. If you are, I have a suggestion to make.”

The father smiling indulgently answered, “What is your suggestion, son?” The boy’s eyes sparkled as he replied, “Dad, could you find me a second-hand Ford? One that I could take with me and paint the sides crazy-like.” Still smiling, the father replied, “Wouldn’t you rather have a brand-new Ford? One that nobody else has ever run?”

The boy’s eyes opened wide in astonishment, “Could I have a new one, Dad? Could you afford it?”

Very thoughtfully the father answered, “Maybe you can, but I’ll not promise you definitely today.”

The next night when the father came in from the office, he brought the boy a book and asked him as a personal favour to read every page of it. The leaves of the book hadn’t been cut. The father called attention to it and said to the boy, “Cut them as you read them.” A week went by before the son reticently asked his dad about the car. Immediately the father asked about the book. How far had he read? “Only about half of it,” he answered. Once more the father said, “Son, please read it all just as soon as you can.”

The boy went up to his room and read awhile.  As the days went by the boy asked again and again about the car. Every time his father answered, “I haven’t quite decided yet. How about the book?” And every time the boy would say, “I will go read it right away.”

Then came the last night before college opened, and the boy sat down on the arm of his father’s chair. Seriously he said, “Dad, I don't understand you this time.  You and I have always been such pals and we have always been so frank with each other. Tell me why I didn't get the car.” The father responded, “Son, go bring the book that I asked you to read.” The boy stammered a little as he handed it over. “Dad, I read all but the last few pages.”

The father took out his penknife and cut the uncut pages, and from between two of them slithered a check made out to an automobile sales company. It was payment in full for a brand-new car. The boy grabbed it and started to dance in glee, and then suddenly stopped and stood very still as it dawned on him that the check had been there for him all along and because he had failed to do what his father told him to do, he had missed the joy of owning the car for a month. His hands trembled as he tore the check into bits and threw it into the fire, and the tears were running down both cheeks as he turned back to this father and said, “Dad, I don’t deserve it.”

The father pulled him down on the arm of the chair again and spoke these words of wisdom to him, “We miss a lot of things in life, son, when we leave uncut the pages of life that we ought to cut. I believe you have learned your lesson, so we will go get the car. It’s been waiting for you for a month, full of gas and oil, ready to run.”

How true were the words of that father! When we leave undone the things we ought to do, we miss receiving some of the grandest blessing that our Heavenly Father ever offered.

The Most/Greatest…(adapted)

The most destructive habit Worry
The greatest joy Giving
The greatest loss Loss of self-respect
The most satisfying work Helping others
The ugliest personality trait Selfishness
The most endangered species Dedicated leaders
Our greatest natural resource Our youth
The greatest “shot in the arm” Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome Fear
The most effective sleeping pill Peace of mind
The most crippling disease Excuses
The most powerful force in life Love
The most dangerous pariah A gossip
The world’s most incredible computer The brain

The worst thing to be without Hope
The deadliest weapon The tongue
The two most power-filled words “I can”
The greatest asset Faith
The most worthless emotion Self-pity
The most beautiful attire A SMILE!
The most prized possession Integrity
The most powerful channel of communication Prayer
The most contagious spirit Enthusiasm

The most important Person ………………………. GOD

Discussion Questions

1   What concrete lessons can you learn from today’s podcast?

2 List two or three major lessons you have learnt from the podcasts/texts that have spoken or challenged you the most.

3  What concrete actions do you plan to take?