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December 07, 2005
go ahead. make my day.
"you can do anything you want."
the words echoed in my ears on the drive home. you can do anything you want. it's true, by the way, you actually can.
what does it mean? you can do anything you want, what's that about, i wondered. limitations. the limitations on my horizon are all my own mental constructions. there is no labyrinth aside from the one that we create, that we let our minds create, no obstacles stand in our path aside from the ones that we have permitted, that we acquiese to, that we accept.
what does it mean, you can do anything you want? semantics? are semantic gymnastics necessary for us to consider that the truth, you can do anything you want?
you don't believe me. you want to throw the impossibilities in my face. you have a thousand contradictions that prove me wrong. that's fine, go ahead. you can do anything you want.
they are nothing but excuses. they are lies that you've been spoon-fed and you think you believe them because you've heard them so often. did Thomas Edison believe that he couldn't do anything he wanted? did Frank Lincoln Lloyd Wright? did Pablo Picasso (nobody ever called him an asshole)? did Helen Keller? did Archimedes? did Einstein? the Wright brothers? when Danté sat down with his quill, did he listen to the voice in his head that said, "you can't do it. you suck. somebody else can, somebody with real brains, somebody with real talent, they can do it, but not you." did Abraham Lincoln listen to that voice? did Martin Luther King, Jr.? even Anne Frank, she didn't listen to that voice, even when that voice came dressed in grey shirts with long blue steel guns.
you want to know the truth about those people? they had oatmeal for breakfast. they had to clean their fingernails. they had bad breath when they woke up in the morning. their knees hurt. they got cramps. stuff bugged them. people interrupted them when they were trying to do stuff. their necks got cold and wet when it rained on them.
there's a fire inside you. the only one who can quench it is you.
you can do anything you want.
posted by matthew at 10:18 PM
: )
posted by: Di on December 7, 2005 11:57 PM
I'm working on it.
posted by: Kurt on December 8, 2005 09:01 AM
Thanks Matt! the encouragement is very much appreciated.
posted by: Charlsie on December 8, 2005 09:33 AM
Abrahm Linclon once said:"It is the folly of any young man to believe that someone stands in his
way.."
You picked that up
posted by: Jim on December 8, 2005 03:30 PM
Let me be the Devil's Advocate. Do you really believe that anyone can be a Thomas Edison or an Einstein? There is a level of intelligence that corresponds to all your examples. What if someone isn't all that smart? Can they really do anything they want? I don't think so. It's nice to think that they can. But the reality is something else.
posted by: Corinne on December 8, 2005 08:05 PM
...i usually leave the comments to others Corinne, but i'm sorry if i wasn't clear in my post. i didn't say anyone could be a Thomas Edison or and Einstein... that was left to Edison and Einstein. i don't think Einstein could have been Edison, nor do i think Edison could have been Einstein, they could only pursue -- and realize -- their own dreams.
the reality is that there was an Edison, there was an Einstein, and there is a you. and just as Edison or Einstein could not have each found his own way in the universe if they had "known" that it was impossible, the same is true for you, it's true for me, it's as true as a circle is round.
say what you want.. you can do anything you want.
fact is, you do it every day. all day long.
posted by: matt on December 8, 2005 08:16 PM
I remember an old story that goes something like this...
a rabbi was worried that when he died, he would be turned away from heaven..not because he wasn't like Abraham, or wasn't like David, but he hadn't been all he could be.
posted by: Kurt on December 9, 2005 03:08 PM
you are so shebunken right! or is it sheboygan right?!?!
well, you know what I mean....
posted by: Bean on December 9, 2005 11:53 PM
Yeah, but I bet a lot of people called Picasso an asshole. The trick is not to care! He was Picasso! And you are you! and I am the goddess! I really think you have to be the hero or heroine of your own story, or the schmoo. You choose.
posted by: k on December 11, 2005 10:23 AM
Matt, I apologize if I offended you and Birdie. I was attempting to provide an alternate viewpoint here but I am afraid I offended you. I am also sorry for posting Birdie's email. I am new to blogs and really don't have any concept of what is accepted and what is not. Cheers.
posted by: Corinne on December 12, 2005 05:31 PM