When We Use The Word Impossible
Impossible is a word that has been used to describe a multitude of situations. People have been told forever that their dreams and ambitions were impossible; this has inspired greatness and made the world what it is today. Everyone that has achieved anything great has been told that their idea was impossible. Daymond John, like all successful entrepreneurs, inspired me by defying the odds of his time and never listening to the word impossible. Daymond John is the CEO and Founder of the world recognized clothing company FIJBU.
He is from Queens, New York and from an era that was all about defying what the world’s version of “impossible” was for him. He is a 44 year old African American that started a clothing company out of his house that has become a 317 million dollar company that has taken on the world and defied everyone that said his dreams were impossible. From a young age the word impossible is something I have always loved to defy I grew up in Rockwood Oregon and went to Reynolds Middle school where the majority of my friends and kids were apart of gangs and doing drugs.
My teachers told me I was not smart enough to get out the there and that I would end up like everyone else eventually. My parents moved me to the opposite part of town where I kept my mentality that my dreams and aspirations were going to be impossible. Until a teacher I hated told me I was not going to be anything and I was determined to change my life eventually I Joined the United States Army. Before Joining the army I was told that I would not make it because of the physical demands they were going to ask of me and I was too defiant.
I was determined to prove everyone wrong in four years I became a SGT and got over a 300 on my physical aptitude test also shot an expert after every qualification. The word impossible became my potential. I thrived in high stress environments. Even though from a young age I have been told that most of my ambitions were impossible. I never believed them. My Father told me a story when I was growing up that his dad always told him: he was” living in a fantasy land” when my Father would alk about robots in the future.
Now days my Father is a head engineer for Intel and works on robots all day. When my Father tells me my dreams are impossible I tell him “l am Just living in a fantasy land and want to show the world what is in it. ” My interpretation stands that nothing is impossible if I am willing to put in the work to prove to the world, but most importantly myself, that I am able to do whatever I put my mind to.
At the times when I find myself questioning if I am going to be able to omplete my dreams and if the word impossible is going to finally defeat me, I remember a quote by Muhammad Ali that one of my Drill Sergeants told me to remember: “Impossible is Just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world theyVe been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing. “- Muhammad Ali
