Recently, I was doing some work at a coffee shop when I noticed a little boy, about five or six, run full-speed into the pine wood wall next me, fall down, and put his hand over his forehead. “Aww,” he said.
Then he got up, walked back about five feet, and ran full-speed into the wall again. “Awww awww,” he said, this time. I laughed.
He noticed my laughter and walked over to me, his hand still protecting his injured forehead. “What’s so funny?” he asked.
“You remind me of me!” I said.
“Do you know how to walk through walls?” he asked. “Like Harry Potter?”
“Well,” I said. “I can give you some pointers.”
Curious, the boy sat down on the chair across from me. His mother came over, worried… but I promised her that he wasn’t bothering me. Relieved, perhaps, to have a moment of silence, she went back to her seat and flipped the pages of a magazine.
“So, you want to walk through walls…” I said. He nodded. Here’s the gist of what I told him:
1. Make sure you were born to walk through walls.
Some of us were born to be painters… to communicate extraordinary amounts of meaning with a brush in our hands. Some of us were born to be orators… to touch people with our spoken words. Some of us were born to be businessmen… to create new structures that enable others to create. And still others of us were born to walk through walls. If you’re going to walk through walls… you better be born to do it!
2. Decide that nothing, including steel reinforcements, can stop you.
Being born to walk through walls isn’t enough. We must decide to accept our birthright. But most of us make excuses for not accepting it. “It might give me brain damage,” we say. Or, “But I have kids to take care of.” Walking through walls… or doing anything that nobody’s done before, requires total commitment… and the only person who can control how committed you are is you. If you’re serious about walking through walls, you must decide that nothing – not even steel reinforcements – can stop you!
3. Get to work.
While many of us decide, at some point in our lives, that we want to do our version of walking through steel reinforced walls, only a lucky few of us actually work on it. I mean, really work on it. The rest of don’t act on our decision… or, at best, we pretend to act on it. For example, there are drunk guys who’ve been walking into walls for years hoping that maybe one day they’ll get through them. But that’ll never work! To walk through walls, you’ll have to read the latest in quantum mechanics and, more specifically, teleportation… and then you’ll have to conjure next-generation theories, which you’ll need to test in various ways. And this kind of work – the real kind – is what enables the impossible to become possible.
4. Let the world know what kind of steel reinforcements you’re up against.
When we’re trying to walk through walls, or do something nobody’s done before, life can get lonely very fast. To keep us motivated, it’s important to let others know that we’re attempting the previously impossible! So be shameless and tell the whole world that you’re trying to walk through steel reinforced walls. Sure, it’s a little extra pressure, and there will be some laughter, but it’s the kind of pressure you’ll need to accomplish such a lofty goal…and when you achieve it, you’ll get the last laugh!
5. Cherish the people that believe in you.
When most people see you attempting the previously impossible, their natural reaction is to point, call you crazy, and tell you to “get real”. But luckily, the world is also full of pioneers who see the value in your dreams…who understand that being human has everything to do with attempting impossible shit! These are good people… and you want to surround yourself with them, because ultimately they’ll help you to find a way through the steel reinforcements… whether by giving you tips, an extra hand, or health insurance! Whoever they are… they are your community. Without them, walking through walls would be much, much, much harder.
6. Dropkick the Dude Yamahas.
There will always be Dude Yamahas in the world: the guys who tell you that it’s impossible to walk through walls because it’s never been done before… or who tell you that it’s stupid to walk through walls because nobody cares about walking through walls anyway. When you encounter these guys… don’t actually dropkick them, because that could get you arrested. But mentally dropkick them, and then forget that they exist… they aren’t worth your time.
7. Prepare for pain… because there’ll be lots of it.
Even though you’re not absentmindedly running into walls anymore, and you’re instead forming theories about the rapid dissolution and reconfiguration of quantum particles, it doesn’t mean that you won’t have your share of suffering. You’re in the business of walking through steel reinforced walls – of doing something that nobody’s done before. You’ll get bruised…. and you might get some brain damage. But it’ll be worth it when you become the first person to solve the problems of large-scale teleportation.
8. Enjoy the pain… because when it’s gone you’ll want it back.
Nobody in real life – Harry Potter isn’t real life – has ever walked through steel reinforced walls. But lots of people have done things that weren’t previously possible… and they continue to do them everyday. And these people – some of whom I’ve met and become friends with – will all tell you the same thing: There’s no greater feeling on earth than the one you experience while trying to walk through metaphorical steel reinforced walls. So as you get knocked around – and you will get knocked around – remember that this is the fun part!
9. Don’t stop until you’ve done it!
The reason nobody has walked through steel reinforced walls isn’t because it’s never been tried! Remember, drunk guys try it all the time… particularly after drinking a Greyhound poured by Wilford! The reason is, simply, that with today’s understanding of physics, it’s impossible. But that doesn’t mean that with your help it won’t become possible in a few years. If you were born to do it and you want it badly enough… anything, including walking through steel reinforced walls, is possible!
****
When we were done talking, the kid walked back to his mother. I smiled and waved. Then he said to her, “Mommy… mommy, that guy just taught me how to walk through walls.”
She told me that my advice was very irresponsible and recommended that I not have kids for a long time. Oh well!!
I can’t believe you got scolded for that.
For myself, I feel emboldened and empowered, and 10:1 says the kid does, too.
I’m more about levitation and shooting fire-balls out of my palms, but the principles still apply.
Thanks for posting.
Lol. That was some great advice =)
There is a popular quote by Hermann Hesse,one of the best translations I found on the web is,“To achieve the possible, we must attempt the impossible again and again”. I would translate it a little more literally “To bring the possible into existence, the impossible has to be attempted again and again”.
Thank you for reminding me.
walking through walls? jeez tell me about it! Its on my list of todos.
Great story. Of course, his mother would rather he do something safe and practical … thankfully not everyone listens to their mother.
holy cow, i know i wouldn’t be walking through/into walls anytime soon after someone talks to me about steel and quantum mechanics! as a kid, i thought that perhaps i could fly too, i didn’t just want to jump from the armrest of the couch, i wanted to jump from the WINDOW, but then i thought, i don’t have a cape and worse, we had window grilles.
Actually… I think John Dillinger was rumored to be able to walk through walls. Of anyone he’d certainly have had the DNA for it, the motivation and the tolerance for the pain.
Now this is what I call original, interesting content.
Had you talked to my daughter about walking through walls, I would have felt:
1. glad that there was someone acknowledging to her that she could do impossible things. And that an adult was treating her with respect enough to try to help her keep her inspiration. Taking her gusto seriously.
and
2. glad that you are in the world, approaching things this way, sharing more possibilties than shutting things down.
Excellent parable.
Wonderful story! I myself found it very inspiring. Thanks.
Very good analogy for life’s little lessons. Being a father of 3, I would not have scolded you for telling my son that! The earlier on we teach our children how to succeed, the better equipped they are actually to do so!
Wonderful, inspiring read!
Brilliant, Dan. Welcome to my blogroll.
that’s a really fun little interaction there…something in me doubts that all came out just like that, but hey, that’s what blogging is for: reconstructing things however we wish to see them. and the mom’s reaction was perfect (especially since i can just imagine the kid’s vastly distorted report as if it came from my own kid’s mouth and my reaction would be exactly the same, except that i wouldn’t say it to you).
fun post
Tre amusing. I like the angle. But nah, I don’t know anyone who has done the impossible. Sometimes the possible is just bloody hard work. There was another post here about tackling hypocrisy. We talk more than we do which is hypocrisy. Perhaps doing more than we talk is impossible. Perhaps it is just a lot of bloody persistant hard work.
remarkable, i will do an italian translation.
Jesus/Yeshua walked through walls
John 20:26 “A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ”
John 20:29-30 “Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.”
I have walked through steal beams when i was suffering with extreme pail but felt ho pain from the act i never been able to walk through something unless i was in extreme pain and not paying attention to what i was doing have done it twice. both times in high school migraine headache both times. my friends that waw me do it just pretended it never happened both times they started by saying did you do that on purpose and how did you do that my answer both times was what? then they said nothing and turned pail. Seeing the structure of the item you walked through is the strangest part.
GOOD TO SEE OPEN MINDED PEOPLE HERE WITH VISION. I AM IN THE PROCESS OF ELIMINATING DEBT IN MY LIFE AND UPON COMPLETION, I WILL SPEND ALL MY TIME, EFFORT, AND MONEY INTO ACHIEVING ALL ASPECTS OF “SUPERNATURAL HUMAN FEATS” SUCH AS TELEPATHY, TELEKINESIS, TELEPORTATION, AND WALKING THROUGH WALLS. I WILL DO THIS SUN UP TO SUN DOWN EVERY SINGLE DAY! WHEN I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVED THESE ABILITIES, I WILL USE IT TO ROB BANKS, MUCH LIKE IN THE MOVIE “JUMPER” WITH HAYDEN CHRISTIANSON. GOD HELP ANY AND ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT WHO TRY TO STOP ME. THANK YOU, AND HAVE A GREAT DAY!
Robbing banks…. No matter how much gain you may get you should really consider the moral aspects of that. Maybe some of those people in that bank are nice people trying to keep a family and they are barely succeeding Imagine. If you stole there money they would have to give up there kids or possibly their homes.
You see my point.
Not walking through walls but sometimes when my body is relaxed or stressed the lights flicker. Or sometimes little black shadows start morphing in random places. Sometimes really quickly. If I am here for a specific psychokinetic feat it would be manipulating space. Walking through walls falls under that category but just plain tele-porting would make much more sense.
Very influential article. I should probably stop wasting my life online in forum and such and get out there and practice. I will make a deal to myself to stop using computer except for necessary reasons. Similar for video games. Almost like if I were grounded. The free time I have will not be spent watching TV or listening to the radio. If I feel bored and not willing to practice my skills after all the necessary work is done I will simply lay down, be bored, and think about life. Sports and such are important to me, so I will continue those.
Hell maybe I can start a revolution of kids leaving computers to get there lives up to par.
Hi there
yes I do believe I can walk through walls …. I think the time is right, more so than ever .. that this is possible. I was a breathairian for a period in my life, and I found it a breeze to live that way. So with that I have ABSOLUTLEY NO DOUBT
that this is possible.
regards, Ann
Thank you for the site