DAY 884... 125 Burpees

It seemed impossible. It didn't help that my sassy 18 month old was refusing to nap and doing everything, and I mean everything, she possibly could to distract me from my workout. Several times I considered substituting jumping jacks for burpees, but let's be honest, that would have been pointless. I even reminded myself that no one was holding me accountable and that there was no immediate reward following this feat. 

After accomplishing what seemed like the impossible, I began reflecting on other instances in my life when I thought the same thing, yet through perseverance and time, what seemed like impossible became some of my best and fondest memories and definitely became possible.

Going to prom.

I remember being 10 years old, sitting it church, and watching all the girls coming to church in their prom dresses the day after prom. I remember clearly thinking it I'll take forever for me to be that old and get to wear my dress to church. This wasn't necessarily something I thought was impossible, but it just took time. A long time. In the mind of a 10 year old it was impossible that I would ever make it to prom. I knew that time would come, and that I didn't even need to really prepare myself, but just wait. Patience is not my strong point.

Graduating high school.

Let's be honest here, everyone who has gone through high school has had this thought. It feels like it takes forever and it's hard. It wasn't hard academically for me, but socially and mentally, high school can be draining. High school can seem impossible. Kids can be mean and parents butt in too much. There's so much pressure to fit in and to be accepted. But it only lasts four years. Well, for most of us that is. It does end!!!! I can't believe that it's been 10 years since I graduated already!Now that's impossible!

Graduating college.

So this one took me longer than your average college student. Instead if the usual four years to graduate it took me seven. I changed my major more times than I can count and I just took my time. But it happened eventually. There were classes that I "had" to take that I thought would kill me! I truly thought that it would be impossible for me to survive college with a decent GPA, but after seven years it happened! But the day I graduated college wasn't just great for me, but it happened at the perfect time! The day I graduated was the day my sister and mother also graduated from the same college. I'm sure my mom thought more than once that going back to school and getting that college degree would be impossible! I mean after raising five kids and countless moves who had the energy for that? But she made it possible! Another amazing aspect of that day was that my Dad just happened to be a professor at the university where we graduated so he got to give us our diplomas. My dad didn't even get his college degree until after I graduated high school! Now he is a college professor at both at BYU-Idaho and Idaho State University, something that I'm sure seemed impossible to him. My parents set such great examples for me!

Marriage

I was 25 when I got married. It's a good age, standard for the rest of the world, but when raised in the Mormon church, that's pretty darn old. I was hassled for years about why I wasn't married and when I would get married and about how my younger sister got married 5 years before I did. It just wasn't my time. I began to think I would never get married. I began to think that for me, marriage was impossible. But for me I just needed to wait and be patient and do everything that I could do, without skipping steps or substituting jumping jacks, in order to prepare myself to be the best that I could be for my future husband. And at 8am on 9-10-11 (cool huh) it happened for me! I made marriage possible!!!

Giving birth

It seems so very impossible to be able to push a person, that you built inside you, out of your body. It happens everyday!!! It's the ordinary miracle! I remember, as they placed Aniston on my chest for the first time, thinking this baby was just inside me. What?!?! How did she get out? How did I do that? Once again it came down to taking the time to do it right and following the steps. I was prepared and my body was built for this, but my mind could wrap around the idea that pushing a baby out of my body was possible.

Being a parent.

This seems impossible everyday! New challenges and new situations occur everyday that I have absolutely no idea how to handle, but day after day I figure it out and I make it work. And I think Aniston is turning out okay. Sometimes I lack patience, creativity and so many other important qualities that every parent should have. The smallest tasks when it comes to parenting seem impossible like getting your child to bed, or getting them to eat the good stuff or even getting them out of the bath! But at the end of the day, when Aniston is in her crib full, clean and sleeping, when I am exhausted  and sore and so ready for bed, I feel accomplished because that is another day down that I made parenting possible.

Everyday there are small impossibilities, like 125 burpees, that occur. But if we take the time to accomplish them, understanding that it might not happen in our time that we would expect, and it we don't change our impossibilities to make them less effective and easier, we can make the impossible very possible and it feels GREAT to accomplish that! I truly believe that nothing is impossible when you try your hardest and do your best. Just be patient and get it done! You can do it!!!

See I wasn't kidding when I said she was sassy on burpee day! But I couldn't help smiling after accomplishing that feat!