WOW Word-Of-the-Week #446: Possibilities

February 21, 2013 by  

Possibilitiesthings that you are capable of achieving.

Have you ever achieved something that you thought would be impossible? Have you ever dreamed of reaching or getting something so outrageous that you quickly dismissed it? Do you believe anything is possible?

Three weeks ago I wrote about US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and this week I felt compelled to write about her memoir titled “My Beloved World.” This second UT article covered her speech at USD. She said, “I wrote it as honestly and candidly as I could.”

She joked that the book was thick, so if she ever let her status go to her head, her family and friends could whack her with it. Then shea sonia got serious: “The essence of its purpose was to remind me of where I came from. Anything is possible. Becoming who you want to be is something everyone in this room should aim for, work for…but also take joy in.”

 She urged young people to reach for their dreams but also to anchor themselves in their family histories. “If you’re fortunate enough to have a living parent…a living grandparent…who remembers your family stories, take the time to listen to their stories. And ask why. Why did that happen and how did that make you feel?”

I believe that your possibilities are either limited or unlimited based on your thinking. I know that to be true for me. When my dear friend Gloria told me that we would be going to the Academy Awards in 1995, I never in my wildest dreams ever thought it would happen. And it did in 1998! And it totally changed how I think about possibilities.

This week’s focus is about your possibilities. Are you who you want to be? What is in your wildest dreams? Do you believe you are capable of achieving anything you want? What is stopping you from going for it?

Reader Responses

“I tell my daughters that they can be anything that they want to be. My older daughter talked about being a teacher a couple of years ago. Recently, after talking to my sister-in-law, who is an interior designer, she has talked about doing that for a living, especially opening her own business. I don’t know what she will do, but she has the ability to do anything she wants and we have inculcated that belief in her. My 11-year-old than asked our 4-year-old what she wanted to do. She honestly did not know what she wanted to do. She is very straightforward for her age. You probably experienced doubts from people when you had decided to write your books. During my search for a publisher, which took a couple of years, I had one woman ask, “What happens if you don’t find a publisher?” Almost as if that would be an obstacle. My answer was that I would self-publish. It is amazing how people look at the limits, or obstacles, instead of the possibilities. I don’t think I ever believed that I would not get my first book published. Maybe it had something to do with the belief in my abilities or the project, but it never occurred to me that it would never get accomplished. The publisher for my second book wanted the manuscript completed in two and a half months. That compressed time frame intimidated me at the start, but the more I thought about it the more I believed that it would be done. One of my co-workers asked me on more than one occasion, “Do you think you will finish it on time?” He did not think I would. But I reassured him that it would be done – ON TIME. And I delivered it to the publisher on the day that I said I would. I don’t know if having those who doubted me was taken on as a challenge by me or if it just reinforced the belief in my abilities. But I made a commitment, and when I make commitments I have always stuck with them, come rain, shine, hell or high water. When I make my next commitment – whether it be a book or other project – I will do the same thing. And I think my daughters have picked up on that in their own lives. Everything is possible. We just have to keep an open mind to the infinite possibilities in our lives. And we will never know until we really try.” –  “Warrior” Joe

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