It seems as if throughout my life, I have been chasing something, or in this particular case – someone. I know this to be true because as I reflect on that moment when I first laid eyes on Mary, I experienced something I had never felt before. It was a wow moment.
I still recall the moment I first saw her in junior high (it was not called middle school back then). As corny as it sounds, it was love at first sight. Unfortunately, for a nerd such as me, fate was going to have to intervene in order for one of the most beautiful and popular girls in school to even know that I existed.
Mary now became my impossible dream, my unreachable star. And thus, my nerdish mind came up with a plan. I would befriend her cousin Rudy. After all, he was one of the coolest guys in school, a ‘Fonzie’ if you will. And you know what they say, “Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are.”
Well, not so fast. My nickname in high school was ‘Half Pint.’ So even though I became one of Rudy’s best friends, his coolness did not rub off on me. But I was more than satisfied to play the ‘Richie’ to his ‘Fonzie’ as long as it got me closer to, you guessed it, Mary.
I remember vividly when Mary first realized I was in her orbit. I was an awestruck teenager when she finally talked to me. Sadly, not to ask me out on a date, but instead to ask me if I would join her on a double date. You see, her cousin from California was in town and her cousin needed a date.
From what I can recall these many years later, her cousin from California was a wonderful girl. But she was not Mary. So even though I agreed to the double date, it was a ruse on my part. I took one for the team that night simply to be close to Mary.
Eventually, my constant presence started to have an effect on Mary. She began to look at me differently, no longer as just a friend of her cousin Rudy, but as boyfriend material. Love is not always reciprocal. But it is magic when it is.
Today, I get to hold my unreachable star in my arms. Granted it took some ingenuity and persistence on my part, but what seemed like an impossible dream in junior high school eventually became my lived experience.
So, if you have an impossible dream, never start with how—start with wow. Reach for something or someone that takes your breath away. Let it consume your every waking moment. It is only after you marinate in the wow that the how will show up. It did for me.
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