Recovering The SelfA Journal of Hope and Healing

Inspirational

Do Something Impossible…

Guest Blogger: Ken La Salle

For the past few months, I’ve been sharing some ideas on how you might follow your dream and how to live the life of a dreamer. This month, I’ve decided to do something a bit different and to give you this assignment: Do Something Impossible!

As you may know, I’ve been following my dream of being a writer for some years now. I’ve written novels and plays and many other things (such as this blog) in the pursuit of my dream. Some time ago, I decided to try something completely outside of my comfort zone and to write a non-fiction book, my first. Not only is it a non-fiction book, it’s a game-changer in the field of ethics. That’s right. I decided to lay out a new theory on ethics that’s never been tried before.

… which is basically impossible. And I realized this. So, after puttering about with it for a short white, I put it away in my stack of “I may get back to it one day but probably won’t” projects. You may have a stack like this of your own – things you once thought you’d do but decided to put off – but my stack is noticeable and take up a lot of space in my mental workroom… actually, it takes up a lot of space in my physical workroom as well (it’s a mess).

Then, two months ago, I saw it poking out from my stack. Reminded of it, I remembered how ambitious it was and how important I felt it was. I also remembered how far outside my comfort zone it was. I’m used to writing theatrical comedies and fiction… this book would be… yep, impossible.

And that’s when I decided I needed to do it.

And I’m suggesting you do it as well.

Go to your stack of projects so ambitious they scared you or new ideas that you feel are just too crazy to attempt – and do it! Do the impossible!

I know. I can hear you now. “How can I do it if it’s impossible? That doesn’t make sense!” I know. And that’s exactly why you should.

If your dream is to bake cakes, go bake the biggest cake you can imagine! If your dream is to jog, go jog farther than you ever have. If you have a dream of going into politics or painting a masterpiece or even of breaking through your anxiety of rejection when speaking to strangers, go make the boldest step, bolder than you ever thought possible.

It might not work. You might get hurt. There’s a very good chance you’ll curse the idea and feel like a fool and never read this blog again. That’s okay. It’s worth it! Because you will have stepped further outside your comfort zone than you ever will have before. You will have conquered new territory you may not have even known was there!

You can be a fool or you can be a bold fool. You may even succeed. You’ll never know until you do it and a bold fool trumps being a garden-variety fool any day.

This is something I have to remind myself all the time. As I draft ideas and themes for this new book and assemble a mountain of research, I am reminded of just how badly I can fail. I recall the words from my childhood about how audacity is simply pride by another name. (Actually, it was never put quite that well. I was told I was “too big for my britches.”) But then, I think to myself, “What kind of victory comes to the timid? What achievements do low expectations ever bring?”

Go do your impossible thing. If you can, make it even more impossible. Fail brilliantly and know that failure is just the first step to success. Failure is just the spot on the map that says, “Next time.” And the impossible becomes something possible, if not right now.

I’m doing my impossible thing and, with every day, it’s becoming a bit more possible, a bit more real. Not just a dream anymore but my life.

About the Author

Ken La Salle

Ken La Salle

Novelist and Playwright, Ken La Salle grew up in Santa Ana, California and has remained in the surrounding area his entire life. He was raised with strong, blue-collar roots, which have given him a progressive and environmentalist view. As a result, you’ll find many of his stories touching those areas both geographically and philosophically. He’s also very funny. His plays are often seen in theaters on the west coast of the U.S. and many of his books can be found in ebook format on Amazon.com (for the Kindle) and Smashwords.com(for all e-reader formats). Ken La Salle is represented by Sullivan Maxx Literary Agency

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0 thoughts on “Do Something Impossible…”

  1. Vicky says:

    I always enjoy Ken’s blogs. This series of blogs is inspirational, thought provoking, and motivational. He has opened his personal challenges and triumphs up to us in a refreshing way.

  2. Julie says:

    Ken – thank you, once again you inspire me!

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