Two Stories of an "Improbability" that was far from an "Impossibility"!

Two tales of improbable being proved wrong... or simply proving that the improbable doesn't also mean impossible, just unlikely.

Story one: Did you see that game? THAT game, last night? The last few minutes were incredible, yes. But, I was most impressed with play at the end of the first half. The Cardinals were 2 yards (6 feet!) away from a touchdown and Harrison (Steelers) intercepted the ball with this great catch and he just took it! He took it all the way from one goal line to the other. He was dodging people left and right, hurdling bodies.... it was almost a dance- although a quite fast dance. It was incredible! Even a novice football watcher like myself knew I was watching something magnificent. Harrison is a line backer. They don't usually run - and not like that. That guy defied all the odds.

Story two: Syrah Jayne (my dog in the picture) may look pretty comfortable on the couch but she's had a very long road. I found her at a homeless dog shelter in Virginia in 2006. All that we knew of her history was that she was found living on the streets. I can tell you that she was also severely abused by someone, probably an entire family or community. She had fishing line still embedded in her tail where they tried to cut it off; she didn't speak for months; she cowered in her own shadow when you even looked at her. It was pretty awful for a while. She acted as if she just wanted to melt into the carpet. One of my friends was walking with Syrah and I one day and he asked it it wouldn't have been more humane for someone to "put her down" rather than live like this. Loving Syrah, that notion was absurd to me but on another hand I understood that he meant no harm. Syrah has had a long road but she actually has found joy in much of it. Today, you'd call her "shy" but apart from that you wouldn't notice anything different about her. I call her my symbol of resilience. If she can learn to love and trust again, anyone can. She's defied the odds to.

We defy the odds all of the time. When things look unlikely they still have a chance. They are not impossible. The words are very different with clearly different meanings. When you face an unlikely or improbability, that is the moment to pull all of your energy together, focus and go after it as though it was the last opportunity you had. What do you have to lose?