DO THE IMPOSSIBLE!

“Our success on the track was only a very small part of our lives, but we hoped it had taught us a disciple that was transferable to other spheres.” – Roger Bannister

In 1952, Roger Bannister set the goal to be the first man to run a mile under four minutes and intensified his training. The record for the mile run remained at 4:01.4 seconds for nine years. “For years, the four-minute mile was considered not merely unreachable but, according to physiologists of the time, dangerous to the health of any athlete who attempted to reach it.” (Bruce Lowitt, “Bannister Stuns World with 4-Minute Mile” St. Petersburg Times, December 17, 1999) On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister ran the mile in 3:59.4, setting a new world record and breaking the proclaimed “impossible” barrier. In an interview, Bannister said, “There was a mystique, a belief that it couldn’t be done, but I think it was more of a psychological barrier than a physical barrier.” (David M. Ewalt and Lacey Rose, “The Greatest Individual Athletic Achievements,” Forbes, January 29, 2008)

                                                 

Once Roger Bannister removed this psychological barrier, the door was opened for others to achieve this feat. On June 21, 1954, just forty six days after Bannister had set this record, John Landy broke Bannister’s record in Turku, Finland, and today there are hundreds of people who have run a mile in under four minutes.

Many people have been conditioned with thoughts of what can’t be done. Studies have shown that within the first eighteen years of our lives, the average person is told “no” more than 148,000 times. (Shad Helmstetter, What to Say When You Talk to Your Self (New York: Pocket Books, 1986), 20) We are constantly being told by parents, friends, teachers, television, and co-workers what we cannot do.

To achieve the impossible, we must strive to find solutions instead of excuses. Instead of saying, “I can’t do it,” we should ask, “How can I do it?” Instead of saying “I can’t afford it,” or “It’s impossible,” begin asking the questions, “How can I afford it?” and “How is it possible?” This small change in our approach to life will produce great outcomes. Elbert Hubbard wrote, “The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.”

Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of television, the baby incubator, the electron microscope, radar technology, gastroscope technology, astronomical telescope technology, and the fusion reaction tubes, had a simple motto for his laboratory, “The difficult we do right away; the impossible takes slightly longer.”

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:13, NKJV

“All things are possible to him who believes.”

Mark 9:23, NKJV

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