8 minute read
Harvey Mackay
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In 1899, the director of the U.S. Patent Office advised U.S. President William McKinley to close the office, saying that everything that can be invented has been invented.
Was he ever wrong! The list of people with “crazy ideas” who made the impossible possible
is endless.
The four-minute mile is a given these days, but until recently it seemed to be an impossibility since the days of the ancient Greeks. They found the old records, how the Greeks tried to accomplish this. They had wild animals chase the runners, hoping that would make them run faster. Nothing worked.
So, the experts decided it was physiologically impossible for a human to run a mile in four minutes. Among their theories: Our bone structure is all wrong. Our wind resistance is too great. Humans have inadequate lung power. There were a million reasons – until one day when one person proved the doctors, the trainers and the athletes all wrong.
In 1954, Roger Bannister showed the world that it could be done. In the three years that followed, 15 runners broke the four-minute mile once they realized it was possible.
The late Muhammad Ali, said: “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
History is full of examples of things we once thought were impossible. Neil Armstrong shocked the world by becoming the first person to walk on the moon. Now we’re talking about people landing on Mars, and Richard Branson and Elon Musk are launching civilians into space.
Remember “The Jetsons” TV cartoon from the early ’60s? The futuristic family had video conference calls, like Zoom and Facebook provide for us now. Their robotic maid Rosie has morphed into the Roomba vacuums. We aren’t quite to Hovercraft-style transportation yet but with self-driving cars coming on the market, we can only guess what comes next.
How large was your first cellphone? Mine was the size of a brick, and I could only talk for 30 minutes before having to recharge it. And it was only good for making phone calls. Back in the ’80s no one could have imagined the capabilities of today’s smartphones.
“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I'm possible!’” said actress Audrey Hepburn.
The term “Pushing the Envelope” originated with experimental military aircraft testing back in the 1940s/1950s with the likes of test pilot Chuck Yaeger and astronaut John Glenn. Each aircraft they flew was said to have an “envelope” (metal skin) of performance. The job of test pilots was to “push the envelope” by making the plane go faster, farther and higher. Being in the envelope manufacturing business, I love the term “pushing the envelope.” To me it means challenging boundaries and pushing yourself to maximize your advantage to be better, faster and smarter and to get the results you want, in business and in life. It makes the seemingly impossible more within your reach.
Look at some of the top inventions from the 20th century and think of how they changed the way we live and work – electrification, automobiles, airplanes, water supply, electronics, radio and television, agricultural mechanization, computers, telephones, interstate highways, imaging, health technologies, petrochemical technologies, lasers and fiber optics, nuclear technologies, high-performance materials and the Internet.
The Internet is the most powerful force in the world today. It took radio 38 years to get to 50 million listeners. It took television 13 years to get to 50 million viewers. It took the Internet only four short years to get to 50 million users.
My good friend Lou Holtz, Hall-of-Fame college football coach, said: “Virtually nothing is impossible in this world if you just put your mind to it and maintain a positive attitude.”
More than 2,400 years ago, Alexander the Great opined, “There is nothing impossible to him who will try.” People continue to think bigger and bigger. I suspect that’s why there were more than 3.3 million patents in force in 2020 alone. And I’m quite certain there will be just as many more to come.
My college history major taught me to be in awe of the pioneers of society and how they defied the naysayers to turn the impossible into I’m possible.
Mackay’s Moral: Impossible is just an opinion.
Reprinted with permission from nationally syndicated columnist Harvey Mackay, author of the New York Times #1 bestseller “Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive,” “We Got Fired!...And It’s the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us,” “The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World,” and “Use Your Head To Get Your Foot In The Door.”
Upcoming Events
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 • Todd County Farm Bureau Fall Harvest Banquet starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Clarissa Ballroom. THURS.-SUN., SEPT. 15-18 • 48th Annual Albany Pioneer Days. Parade of Tractors: Sat. 1:30 p.m.; Sun. 2 p.m.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 • Albany Class of '77 Reunion at 6:30 p.m. at RReV's, Avon. • Melrose Class of '62 Reunion from 2-6 p.m. at the Melrose Legion. • Sauk Centre Class of '54 Reunion at 11 a.m. at the Lynx Golf Course, Sauk Centre. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 • Forever Young Choir Concert "Happy Together" at 4 p.m. at First Lutheran Church, Sauk Centre.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 • Grey Eagle Senior Center Meeting, 10:45 a.m. at the center.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 • 16th Annual Hog Roast from 4:30-7 p.m. at the Grey Eagle United Methodist Church. See ad on page 7. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 • Albany Legion Post 482 Smorgasbord Breakfast from 8 a.m.-Noon at Church of Seven Dolors Parish Hall, Albany.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 • Grey Eagle Senior Center Potluck/ Bingo Party at 5 p.m. at the center. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1 • St. John’s Catholic Church 38th Annual Craft Fair from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Swanville School. See ad on page 7. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2 • Quilt Bingo at 1 p.m. at St. Mary's Church, Upsala. ALBANY TOWNSHIP • Meets the fourth Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany City Hall. • Planning Commission meets the second Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany City Hall.
BURNHAMVILLE TOWNSHIP • Meets the last Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Burtrum City Hall.
FEET FIRST CLINIC • Meets the 1st Tuesday of the month from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at Holdingford City Hall. FOOD DISTRIBUTION • Ruby’s Pantry Food Distribution first Saturday of the Month from 10-11 a.m. at River of Live Church, Sauk Centre.
FREEPORT SENIOR MEETING • Meets the 3rd Thursday of the month at 1:30 p.m. with cards/Bingo/coffee/dessert.
GREY EAGLE TOWNSHIP • Meets the first Monday of the month at 8 p.m. MELROSE TOWNSHIP • Meets the first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the town hall.
MELROSE VFW #7050 POST/AUX. • Meets the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Melrose American Legion Clubrooms. MELROSE LEGION #101 POST/AUX. • Meets the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Melrose American Legion. (Aux. Sept.-May.) STEARNS CO. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY • Meets at 7 p.m. on the 2nd Monday of the month at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albany. SUNSHINE CLUB • Meets every Monday, weigh in starts at 8; meeting at 8:30 a.m. at the Village View Apartments, Grey Eagle. ST. ROSA CITY COUNCIL • Meets the 3rd Monday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Community Park building.
SWANVILLE CITY COUNCIL • First Tuesday after the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m. SWANVILLE TOWNSHIP • Meets the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 8:30 p.m. at the Swanville Fire Hall. UPSALA CITY COUNCIL • Meets the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m.
If you have an upcoming event or meeting, please let us know by email: htnews@icloud.com or call 320-285-2323.
Temperatures
Date High Low 9/7 82 61 9/8 88 64 9/9 64 55 9/10 70 45 9/11 70 41 9/12 77 41 9/13 79 45
