Books come to me in two ways, either through a recommendation or by ‘finding’ it. I often will find books that call to me when scanning the bookshelves in a bookstore or just looking around online. Sometimes I read these books right away and they are the right book at the right time. enLightened by Jessica Berger Gross was one such book. I wasn’t looking for it, but it called to me and it shared a message I needed to hear.
At other times, a book will call to me, and it is the right book, but the wrong time. Bill Strickland’s, “Make the Impossible Possible: One Man’s Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary”,
I bought it almost two years ago. I tried reading it, but could never get past the first few pages. Then a few months later at a workshop in Las Vegas Barbara Winter raved about it and I tried reading it again. Every time she would write about it over the next year and half I would try to read it again, but could never get past the first chapter. At the time I didn’t know why.
Yesterday I took the day ‘off’. I didn’t log on to my computer, I just relaxed and read. And, the book I read was Make the Impossible Possible: One Man’s Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary.
I know now why I never finished it before. If I had read it when I bought it, its’ message would not have reached me. I wasn’t ready to hear it or accept it then. Yesterday I was. It was the right book at the right time.
It is a book full of hope. Bill’s story and the stories of the people’s lives he has touched and changed moved me to tears on more than one occasion. His words reached right inside of me and tore open my heart.
I have had some doubts lately about my BIG dream, a dream I only verbalized a few weeks ago. All the old questions come up, the same ones a lot of people hear, “Who do I think I am? Who am I to think I can build something like this?”
But, we all have in us the ability to dream and to build the dream that is unique to us.
That belief, that hope, is settling into my heart and soul. I am still scared and still have no idea how I can actually do this, but I have faith. I just have to keep taking the small steps and continue moving forward.
Here are a few of the quotes I wrote down from the book…
“…my restless quest to live a life that mattered had forced me to mine a lifetime of emotional experience, make sense of it, draw a vision from it, then find the knowledge, skill, partnerships, and perseverance I needed to make that vision real. It’s something everyone who as a passion for living does”
“I just followed the lead of the things that inspired me, and learned what I needed to know from the bottom up, from the inside out, on an as-needed basis, as the survival of the dream required.”
“I’m often approached my idealistic young people on fire to do good for others, all hungry to save the world. I tell them the first step is save yourself. Make sure you own life is lined up right, that you know what is important to you and why it matters before you set out to make your mark on the world.”
“…that life is simple and if you line your life up right – with your values, dreams, skills and passions all pointing in the same direction – anything you hope for, whatever you wish, can come true.”
This isn’t a book that promises dreams come true without hard work and setbacks. It doesn’t make claims of material wealth if you follow your passions. What it does promise is a successful, fulfilling life, if you build your dreams around your passions, values and beliefs.
“Make the Impossible Possible”
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1. It tells the authors own story in an engaging and authentic way.
2. It shares other people’s stories.
3. It is inspirational and/or informative.
I will have to rate this book as one of my top three for the year. Buy it for yourself, your children, your family and your friends. It is a story and a message that needs to be heard.
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