When we were in high school, my brother John and I went on an explorer trip. Two weeks of survival in the great outdoors: camping, hiking, fishing and surviving the mountains and wilderness, living on only what we brought with us. To begin, we rode a train for 24 hours to get to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico and started our journey with 10 other young men. When it was over, we were full of pride, accomplishment… and very hungry. In fact, as young men we realized we had cravings for certain food. For John, it was pizza. As we were waiting at the terminal, John said, “I’m getting a large pepperoni pizza.” “That’s great,” I said, “but we have a 24-hour train ride back home.” “Ha!” He said, “I’ll have that pizza in 3 hours.” At the time, I thought this was an absurd statement: the train was arriving as he said it, the food car on the train didn’t have pizza on the menu and mobile phones didn’t exist in the late 80s. “No way, that’s impossible… The train stops for less than 5 minutes at a time. There is no way you can get a pizza in that amount of time. It can’t be done.” “Oh yeah,” my experienced older brother said, “watch this.” In La Junta, Colorado (our third stop on the northeast bound Southwest Chief), there is a Pizza Hut Restaurant .2 miles from the train station… In Trinidad, Colorado (our second stop on the northeast bound Southwest Chief), there is a pay phone. John simply got off the train in Trinidad, called the Pizza Hut in La Junta and ordered a large pepperoni pizza to the blonde guy with $20 in the 3rd car on the northeast bound Southwest Chief. He gave me one (1) slice.
You are not limited by the rules told to you. If you want something badly enough, you have to fight, climb, push, pull or crawl your way there. Don’t limit yourself to what you think or others said that you can’t do. Don’t believe a word they say, because when you find a way, people will start following your rules instead of their own. Thanks, John.
* If you look on google maps, that Pizza Hut is still there. I wonder how many train orders they get per day.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela