This morning I turned on the TV and instead of watching the Today Show like I usually do, I was compelled to flip through the channels. I stopped my search when I saw ABC Family had Boy Meets World on at 7:30 in the morning. It has been years since the last time I saw Cory, Shawn, and Topanga but I will admit I do love that show. As I watched, I began to think that maybe I was meant to see this morning’s episode.
For weeks now I’m been saying I want to really start doing some writing. Now I’m not talking blogging but real writing. My goal has always been to write a novel and no matter how much I want it, I just seem to fall short of actually completing that task. Sometimes I doubt myself and wonder if I have what it takes to write something that really matters. Sometimes I think that even though I have ideas, I will never be able to find the drive and focus needed to finish any of the stories I start. To be honest, I constantly think that the whole idea is just an impossible dream rather than a realistic possibility.
This morning, teacher/mentor Mr. Feeney assigned Cory and Shawn to go out and get tickets to the Superbowl. He also told Topanga that she would not be allowed to help. No tickets equaled failure for the boys and butting in would mean failure for Topanga. Yes, it was mission impossible all around. As the show went on, Topanga tried charades to avoid interfering and blemishing her perfect record while still aiding the clueless boys in their attempt to get the tickets. Cory and Shawn ended up entering a contest to win the tickets that required Shawn to sit on a billboard in the freezing cold longer than all the other contestants to win. Although he made it to the final two, when he noticed that he was competing against an ice cream cone eating Eskimo who was visiting Philadelphia in January for vacation, he realized that his task was impossible so he gave up. The trio went in to Mr. Feeney to say and that the lesson they had learned was that the task was impossible but Feeney refused to accept anything but a completed assignment and asked where the tickets were. This prompted Shawn to go back up on the billboard and the other two to go get him. The contest was over but Shawn had to return to the scene of his latest failure, Corey once again had to go and try to save him, and Topanga had to keep fighting to not get involved in order to remain perfect. Shawn eventually tells Cory to be his friend and get out of his way because he was going to the Superbowl.
In the end each of them learned a lesson that they all needed to learn. Topanga learned that it’s ok to fail or not be perfect. Sometimes you have to fail to help you grow. No one is perfect. Cory realized that no matter what he wanted for Shawn, he had to step back and let Shawn do what he wants. He had to let his friend figure out life on his own. And then there was Shawn, who learned the most important lesson of all. There will always be an Eskimo standing in your way but that doesn’t mean that things are impossible. It just means that you have to keep trying to make things happen. The episode ends with everyone watching the Superbowl and Mr. Feeney seeing a sign in the crowd that said, “Feeney, nothing’s impossible”. Shawn was at the Superbowl. Assignment completed, mission possible.
There are a lot of things in life that we term as “impossible” but maybe those things aren’t necessarily unattainable but rather just tasks that require a little more effort to make them possible. The real truth is that even though there are things that will stand in our way, we are the biggest roadblock to our ultimate success. Sometimes we are our own worst Eskimos. I know I definitely am. I can talk myself out of anything if I really put my mind to it and that’s not always a good thing. Sure my desire to be my generation’s Salinger and write the great American novel may not be the most attainable goal but somewhere inside of me is a story that I want to tell. I don’t want to let the Eskimos in my way keep me from trying. This morning I needed a little Boy Meets World reminder to give this dream all I have regardless of the odds against me. If I fail, I fail but at least I went for it. Nothing is impossible unless we let it be.
“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.” – Vince Lombardi
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