How to do the impossible


So, what do the Great Wall of China and the length of Africa have in common?

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My sister, Tammy, has walked both of them. Well, not literally, but the equivalent.  In less than three years, she’s covered over 6,000 miles.

I feel tired.

I really do. And I have body parts that hurt, because I recently traveled with her. When you accompany my sister, you are going to walk. So, on arrival at our destination we walked four miles. The next morning, we walked five. That evening four more, and the next morning four more.

If you check out the One Ringing Bell sidebar, you’ll see Tammy there on the cover of a national magazine. She’s a weight loss expert and let me tell you, all that she teaches, she does. I can testify to that fact.

I don’t personally know anyone else who’s achieved what she has. She had to AVERAGE six miles a day, 365 days a year to cover that amount of ground. I don’t know how anyone does that.

Now, I walk our good dog Lucy on a regular basis, but we’re recreational walkers. She stops to sniff a deer track, charge squirrels, and eye the occasional puffed up cat. I probably burn more calories cleaning out the refrigerator than I do walking our dog.

I’m in awe of what my sister has accomplished. And so proud.

It’s nice to know people who have done big things, things that seem impossible, because it inspires us to do the same.

Now, I don’t think my sister woke up one day and said, “I’m going to walk 6,000 miles in three years.”  I imagine the enormity of that goal might have seemed crushing. But I know prayer is a big factor in her life, and she may have prayed, “God, help me.  I’m going to push myself and with your help see what I can accomplish today.”

St. Francis of Assisi said, “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

Your aspiration may not be to walk 6,000 miles, but you long to write a book, or learn a language or to play tennis. Start by doing what’s necessary to reach those goals. Pray and go from there.

And who knows what might happen.

Great Wall of China, here we come.

“Nothing, you see is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37 The Message). 

Related: Celebrating an Anniversary,  From the One Ringing Bell Top Twenty: More