Make the Impossible Possible in 2014

Hello friends, I trust that you had a wonderful holiday. Marchelle arrived home in time for Christmas. Malcolm had to work Boxing Day and only arrived home on Friday. Saturday evening we had our Christmas family dinner. I woke up Boxing Day feeling lightheaded and dizzy and as result I spent most of the day in the ER at Credit Valley Hospital. On Saturday I did a follow up with my family doctor. All my vital signs including blood pressure and red blood cell count are normal. The ECG test performed at the ER did not detect any cardiac (heart) abnormalities. I am not suffering from one of my severe cluster headaches. While I may have over indulge and eaten a lot over the holidays I certainly have not consumed any alcohol. One possible explanation for my experience is that I might be suffering from motion sickness caused by some a virus that result in fluid in my inner ear. The long and short I have been given the green light by the doctors at the ER as well as by my family doctor but I will certainly keep of how well I am improving.

Christmas is a time of giving and sharing and last week Monday and Tuesday morning as well as this morning I spent two to three hours volunteering at Regeneration Outreach Community on Main Street in Brampton. Regeneration cares for the homeless and those at risk of being homeless by providing breakfast seven days of the week. Regeneration also provides a sense of a community and access a number of social services such as clothing, nursing care, clinical foot care, personal hygiene kits, and so much more to the homeless and needy.

For the New Year, I am planning to volunteer some of my time and skills to Regeneration to build on the success of my Holiday Season Food Drive that concluded a week before Christmas day. In January and February I would like to use my skills to help raise awareness for Regeneration’s coldest night of the year fund raising campaign which is February 22, 2014. What are your plans for 2014? How do you plan to make a difference in 2014?

Please allow me to share my thoughts with you today about making the impossible possible in 2014. Few days before Christmas I became aware that astronauts on the International Space Station were conducting a series of urgent repair spacewalks to revive a crippled cooling line. According to the news report a breakdown had occurred that left one of two identical cooling loops too cold. It forced the astronauts to turn off all non-essential equipment inside the orbiting lab, bringing scientific research to a near-halt and leaving the station in a vulnerable state.

I am amazed that we have the technology and ability to carry out a pump replacement about 260 miles up in space. From what I have read the repair job was a risky endeavour. To avert some of the risks the astronauts wore extra safety gear as they floated outside because NASA wanted to prevent a recurrence of the helmet flooding that nearly drowned an astronaut last summer. The astronauts had snorkels in their suits and water-absorbent pads in their helmets. I certainly found the exercise to replace the pump in space incredible fascinated. Think about it. If we are able to replace a pump in space, what else can you and I accomplish?

I also found the attempt to rescue 74 people on board a Russian ship, the Akademik Shokalskiy, trapped by ice in the Antarctica equally fascinated. As one of the researchers mentioned few days ago all the people on the ship are healthy and in very good spirits. The researcher went on to say few years ago researchers trapped by ice in the Antarctica would not be able to communicate with the outside world via Youtube, Skype, Facebook, Twitter and other social medias. However, here we are at the end of 2013, watching one ice breaker ship after another attempting to crack the ice and raising hopes of a successful rescue.

I recounted these two pieces of news to say that in 2014 you can make the impossible possible. If we are able to repair at cooling systems hundreds of miles above earth or if we can use one ship after another to crack ice in Antarctica to rescue researchers on another ship what is it that will be truly impossible to us in 2014? Depending on what you goals are, I would say nothing will be impossible for you in 2014.

Whatever your goals are for the New Year, here are three things you should do to make the impossible possible in 2014:

Take risks and be fearless

Clearly, the pump on the International Space Station needed to be fixed but it involved taking risks. To mitigate some of the risks, NASA took extra precautions to avoid water vapours in the astronauts’ helmets. Life involves taking risks. Taking risks requires that you belief in yourself. You must be so confident in yourself that you are fearless. Your beliefs are powerful. If you believe something is impossible, that belief will erode your confidence and turn that impossible belief into a self-fulfilling prophecy. You will be afraid and you will avoid taking risk. You must confront risk with confidence. We should not be careless or carefree but we have to take risks and be fearless if we want to turn the impossible into possible in 2014.

Control the things you can control

Let us take the 74 people trapped on the Russian ship. They send out tweets, post videos on Youtube, update their Facebook status and in the process keep the rest of us informed on how well they are coping in the face of being distressed in Antarctica. They even manage to celebrate the birthday of one of the female researcher on board. They may be trapped by ice in Antarctica but they are still in control of the things they can control such as keeping in good spirit and keeping us informed. To make the impossible possible in 2014, control the things you can control. For example, you can control your health by eating healthy foods and keeping physically fit by exercising daily. You can keep track of your finances by using a budget. You can document your plans and goals for the New Year.

Think outside the box – think possibilities and not impossibilities

It is unclear whether the pump repair was a part of the mission for the astronauts on the International Space Station but they were obviously prepared. They had the 770lbs (353.8kg) refrigerator-size pump handy which was held by a robotic arm as it was guided to the installation spot. In the Antarctica, the Chinese Ice Breaker ship remains in close proximity in the event the Australian icebreaker the Aurora Australis is unable to reach the stricken ship. The Chinese icebreaker, the Snow Dragon, is on standby at the edge of the ice and within sight of the trapped ship. It has a helicopter on board which could be used in the rescue. The rescuers initial plan is to break through the ice but if that fails they will move to using the helicopter to rescue the researchers. They are not sticking to one solution, they are thinking outside the box. To make the impossible possible in 2014, you must think outside the box. I am optimistic that the 74 people will be rescued despite the adverse weather conditions that forced the Australian icebreaker to suspended efforts to reach an icebound research ship.

As we approach the end of 2013, I encourage you to think possibilities and not impossibilities. In 2014, be prepared to turn the impossible into possible. Look at what you accomplished in 2013 especially what you once thought could never be done. Are you amazed you once thought it was impossible?

In 2014, take some risks and be fearless, control the things you can control and think outside the box. Think possibilities and not impossibilities.

Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor.  He can be contacted by email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.