Opportunities lie in the impossible

          I heard this poem in one of the general conferences of my Church. It has stuck with me through many years. I later looked it up and found out it's actually by a French poet Guillaume Apollinaire. The rough translation goes like this (not that I’d know, I didn't translate it):

“Come to the edge."

“We can't. We're afraid."

"Come to the edge."

 "We can't. We will fall!"

"Come to the edge."

We came.

And he pushed us.

And we flew. 

   


    There are so many voices in our life that tells us we are incapable; that reality is cruel; that dreams are impossible. Mediocre is now the new motto: “There’s no need to try so hard… not only do you appear stupid, you’re doom to fail anyway.” So why not just float along in a dream-like state and before you know it, life will be over. You would've done at least some good things so it’s probably enough.

          After graduation and serving a mission, I returned to Taiwan ready for the next stage of my life – look for a job. Oh, the thrilling experience of looking for a job in a world of constantly decreasing employment rate. In one of the interviews, the employer asked a question I have never thought about in my life.

          “Why do you want to work?” He went on, “You’re not married and have no kids you need to raise. You have no debt from school or ridiculous medical bills. You come from a decent family with probably enough money to feed you. What’s your motivation to work?”

          I answered, but we’ll skip that part.

          He then explained, “Many kids in your generation are looking for a job because they have nothing better to do and the first hardship comes along, they get up and quit. There’s no pressure to work. No financial motivation to stay and keep trying.”

          Well, isn't that just sad? Did we let our life - our blessings, our opportunities and protection - become our blindfold? After all that our parents have gone through to create for us a better future, have we now lost the ability to overcome hardships? Life is filled with difficulties, pains and trials that help us to grow, mature and become stronger. Like trees that weather storms and forest fires, we need to be beaten down once in a while so we can stand taller.

          This is a fact.

          Oh, it’s painful I get it. I have horrible days when I’ll come back to read this post and think  I’m an idiot for thinking life should have trials. Even so… please don’t be content to just keep living. Face the hardships and don’t give up! Go for your dreams, push yourself to the edge of extremities and know, that is when men will fly.

          Men's extremities are God's opportunities.

         中文翻譯：因為不可能，才有機會