I'mPossible: Desire, Dream, Do - Softcover

Griffin, Jeff

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1504335384 ISBN 13: 9781504335386

Publisher: BalboaPress, 2015

Synopsis

The sun's rays filtered in from the partially opened shades of the plane. They lit up the world in front of me and warmed my soul, knowing I was almost to my destination. The beautiful golden light replaced the grey and hazy cobwebs from my eyes, revealing the most spectacular scene I had ever seen in my entire life. I looked out the small seven-inch window and witnessed something that I'll never forget! I beheld something in this magnificent world that the majority of people never get to see. I was looking out at Mount Everest, the world's highest peak!

I was at the tail end of a three-flight journey with two layovers in between, nearly logging twenty-four hours of flight time. I hadn't gotten any real sleep in the last thirty-six hours. My bloodshot eyes were heavy, my mind was slow and sluggish, and my body was even slower in response. How did I get here? I thought to myself. Am I d-r-e-a-m-i-n-g?

As Lao and Confucius once said, "A journey of one-thousand miles begins with one step." My story is about inspiring you to take your own journey one step at a time. It's about dreaming and accomplishing the impossible. It's not only about aiming for the sky and reaching for the stars but enjoying the journey along the way.

Begin your personal journey today, press forward to the top, and don't you ever stop. As you move toward your dreams, there will be obstacles and setbacks along the way; don't be afraid. You can get to the top of your world by following the signs and guide posts within these pages. You can do it with others! You can do it with me! We can do it together, one step at a time!

I'mpossible! - Jeff Griffin

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

I'mpossible

Desire, Dream, Do

By Jeff Griffin

Balboa Press

Copyright © 2015 Jeff Griffin
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-3538-6

Contents

Introduction, vii, 
Mile Marker 1 - Day of Shattered Dreams!, 1, 
Mile Marker 2 - True Desires!, 13, 
Mile Marker 3 - Second Chances!, 25, 
Mile Marker 4 - Good in All Things!, 37, 
Mile Marker 5 - Rebuild and Renew!, 49, 
Mile Marker 6 - Exit the Sauna of Self Pity!, 59, 
Mile Marker 7 - Hope for a better day!, 71, 
Mile Marker 8 - Attitude is Positively Everything!, 79, 
Mile Marker 9 - Seeing the Signs!, 91, 
Mile Marker 10 - My Best Friends!, 101, 
Mile Marker 11 - Walk Through the Door and Enjoy the Jounrey!, 109, 
Mile Marker 12 - Dance! There really is a 'Happily Ever After!', 121, 
Summit, 131, 
About the Author, 141, 

CHAPTER 1

Mile Marker 1

Day of Shattered Dreams!

It was a bright beautiful summer morning back in 1995. We had work to do and it was a perfect day to do it. Gazing up toward the top of the barn and looking into an expanse of light blue skies I noticed the few wispy clouds that accented the wonderful possibilities that dotted my own future.

"I will be successful." I thought to myself as I laboriously climbed up the ladder to do the job some doubted I could do. I had been painting all summer and business was booming. I had just contracted to paint an old barn and with this one and others it was more than a 22 year old, one-man owner, could handle. I desperately needed some help, so I hired my good friend Doug. For the next three days we would be painting a barn in Preston Idaho, which would put us directly in "Napoleon Dynamite" country. Preston was a forty-five minute drive from my hometown of North Logan, Utah. I was excited to get this job started!

This particular job brought hope and excitement into my life because when I finished painting the barn, I would have enough money to purchase the motorcycle that I had always wanted; a 1995 Honda CBR 600 F3 red, white, and blue four-stroke 'ladies machine'. With a 100 horse power 12,000 revolutions per minute (RPM) engine, it could get the driver from 0 miles per hour (MPH) to 60 in about 4 seconds, topping out at over 140 MPH. That was enough power and speed for any junky. It was a dream come true and a mom's worst nightmare. There would also be enough money left over for the upcoming year of college, without me having to work. This would allow me to be totally focused on football, girls, and school in that order.

That morning I had loaded up the truck with my painting equipment and picked up my new employee. Doug and I headed off toward our destination. The journey was going great until we crossed the Idaho/Utah boarder and ran into road construction. The next 12 miles was bumper-to-bumper traffic.

"Who would have thought that there could be this much traffic in farm country?" I asked trying to break the silence.

"I didn't know there was this many people that wanted to get in to Idaho." Doug rhetorically responded.

We really didn't mind the traffic. And we weren't going to let it get us down nor get us in a bad mood. In fact, it gave us a chance to talk about the important things of life; Football and girls! We reminisced about last year's undefeated 11-0 football season at Ricks College, and our years playing football for Sky View High School and the girls that came to the games. We talked about the possibilities about the Ricks football team and all the pretty girls that would be there. We talked about the fact that I would be leaving home soon and heading up to Rexburg, where I would find the beautiful young ladies, in just a few weeks. Once we finished with the topics of football and girls we got to the most exciting topic at hand ... bungee jumping! Yes, bungee jumping! I had never been and I was going to go that night for a young adult activity. I was ecstatic! And of course, there were going to be ladies there!

Doug and I finally arrived at the job site. Unfortunately we had lost a couple of hours of good light and cool weather because of the road construction. I had no worries though, we would make up for it! I was sure of that. I pulled the old but reliable thirty foot ladder out of the back of the truck while Doug started to unload the scaffolding. The back of the truck was quickly stripped of its contents. With the five gallon paint cans to the side and the paint sprayer out of the way, the task of putting the scaffolding together began. Millions of construction workers, painters, and building maintenance crews work on scaffolding every day, and due to the nature of its use, scaffolding must be properly constructed and used to ensure the safety of those who use it. Many large commercial and government construction projects require all workers to have scaffold training and be OSHA certified. I apparently didn't get the memo on that requirement! Our job was going to be a simple one day use of the scaffolding. It was not like other complex construction jobs that you see constructed in the city. Our setup was both simple and rudimentary.

One level of scaffolding was finally put together. We connected the crossbars and fastened them together to the corners of the polls with cotter pins. We inserted the perimeter polls of the scaffolding into the four foundational plates. Each one foot square plate provided the safety and support needed as we tipped the scaffolding to its vertical position. Once positioned next to the barn, we laid a couple of 2 x 8 wooden planks cross the top of it so the thirty-foot ladder could be placed on top of that. I climbed the 8-10 foot climb to the top of the scaffolding in no time. Doug hoisted the ladder up to me and I solidly placed the ladder on the wooden planks. The legs of the ladder felt solid and secure against the wooden planks as I gently leaned the ladder up next to the big white barn.

"It's not even close to reaching the top", shouted Doug, while trying to be helpful.

The ladder only reached two thirds of the way up. We still lacked another 10-15 feet more to reach the top.

"Thanks, Doug" I sarcastically replied, "I can see that."

I pulled the ladder back from the barn and quickly lowered it back down to Doug. I hurried down from the scaffolding to retrieve the second level of scaffolding. We immediately went to work, putting the second level of scaffolding together. After we completed our handy workmanship together, we lifted the second level of scaffolding above the first and gently lowered it on top of the original. The second level of scaffolding connected perfectly with the first. This additional level added another 8 to 10 feet to our criss-crossed metal foundation. We put some more 2 X 8 wooden planks on top of that and copied the earlier process of placing the ladder up against the barn. After the ladder was against the barn, Doug and I both realized that the ladder didn't quite reach the top of the barn. It didn't concern me too much though because the pressure of the paint sprayer would probably reach the top of the barn without having to raise the ladder any higher.

With the construction of the scaffolding and placement of the ladder completed, the real work was ready to begin. I asked Doug if he would hold the ladder for me at the top of the scaffolding. Doug hated heights, but he hesitantly complied. I grabbed my sprayer and Doug and I started up the scaffolding. Once on top, Doug stayed behind and held the ladder while I continued up it. As I began the climb I noticed Doug was shaking nearly uncontrollable. It caused the ladder to rattle with noise as the cold metal vibrated against itself.

"Are you sure you can handle this Doug?" I asked nervously, "Because if you're not, I can give you a second to settle down and collect your emotions, you pansy!"

"I'm O.K." came the quick reply. "and by the way, who's calling who a pansy?"

I slowly started to climb up the ladder, step-by-step-by-step-by-step. ... Midway to the top I half jokingly shouted down to Doug, but mostly with the intent to calm him down,

"You know Doug; we could relate this to life, step-by-step; precept upon precept; here a little there a little ..."

Before I could finish my sentence Doug shot back just as jokingly and a little more serious;

"Shut up Griffin, stop preaching to me!"

This seemed to loosen Doug up a bit and we both laughed about the exchange as I continued to the top.

I got as high as I could 'safely' go on the ladder (Once you are up forty feet in the air, without any rope, 'safely' really is a relative phrase) and I could see that painting the top of the barn was going to be a challenge but still possible. I was hoping the pressure from the paint compressor would shoot the paint high and far enough to compensate for the lack of not being close enough to the top. I lifted my arm above my head with the intent to spray the highest point of the barn. With the sprayer in hand I squeezed the lever ... just then, what I didn't expect to happen, did! The paint dribbled out of the nozzle and dropped down to the ground. I definitely knew I wouldn't be painting the top of the barn with this setup. Before descending I looked up, breathed in, and became aware of the dazzling blue sky and the beauty all around us. Life was good and the remaining few months of 1995 were going to be the best.

I quickly and carefully descended the ladder and scaffolding and hurried over to the paint sprayer. Doug came down as well. He inhaled deeply and was able to breathe normally for the first time since we started. I adjusted the sprayer and tested it out to make sure it would work this time. Sure enough, it was working like a charm. I motioned to Doug with my head, and said,

"Let's do this!"

We both climbed back up the scaffolding to the base of the ladder. Instead of instantly going up the ladder I decided to raise the ladder 'one notch more'! I wasn't going to leave it to chance or the paint sprayer in painting the top of the barn. I didn't want to come back down from those heights again without having the top part of the barn painted and completed. To avoid a long and awkward wrestling match with the ladder, Doug and I pulled the ladder back from the barn together. We struggled to keep our own balance while standing on the wooden planks but we finally raised the ladder 'one notch more' and gently put it back in place against the side of the barn. This time I was positive that I would reach the top and finish the job. I started up the ladder, and Doug resumed his position holding the ladder. Fortunately for both of us, this time he wasn't shaking! Carefully putting one foot in front of the other I slowly climbed the ladder. With every rung of the ladder behind me it brought me one step closer to finishing what I started. The excitement of getting the high parts over with started to percolate from within. I didn't enjoy being up there any more than Doug did.

The sun was heating things up fast and the ladder was warm to the touch. "We need to get things going." I impatiently thought to myself as I put one hand in front of the other and started my climb.

As I reached the half way mark of the ladder Doug decided to get back at me for our earlier exchange.

"Hey Griff, I know you're excited to go bungee jumping tonight but I want to remind you that you don't have a chord." he said teasingly.

Jabbing back in return I said, "Shut up Doug, stop preaching to me!"

We both laughed. We were a couple of comedians thinking how funny we weren't! Once again I continued up the ladder to the top. This time I was a foot closer to the top, my paint sprayer was working, and there wasn't anything that was going to keep me from doing this job.

"I'm here", I thought to myself. "Let's get this over with so we can get back down to a safer position."

Again, I lifted my arm above my head and was about to squeeze the paint lever ... just then, what I didn't expect to happen, did! The genesis of total chaos! I felt that 'infamous' feeling that every school kid has felt at one time or another. That feeling you get when you're leaning back on your chair, even after your teacher has repeatedly told you to "sit down on all four legs". That feeling you get when gravity takes over and you slip! That feeling you get when your stomach lurches up to your throat, falls down to your feet, and then settles back again in its original place. That is the 'infamous' feeling that I felt at that very moment right before squeezing the paint lever.

"Ahh shhhooot" I calmly thought to myself as I let go of the sprayer. "I need to do something quick or else!" I was having this conversation within my head. Everything was happening so fast that I didn't have time to speak out loud. The ladder swayed back and away from the barn. The ladder slipped away from my feet leaving me venerable from the metal perch that I was previously standing on. "I so don't want to think about the 'or else!'", were my last thoughts at that moment.

At the top of the barn where the ladder once rested were some loft doors. Earlier that day they had been closed for this particular project but there remained an one-inch gap between the doors. As I began to fall, I instinctively jammed my thumb into the gap and tried to hold on to the door as the ladder and scaffolding went tumbling to the ground. For that split second that I was dangling in the air I could hear metal crashing against metal as the ladder and scaffolding collapsed and crumbled on top of each other. As the dust began to settle around the pile of scrap metal, the muscles in my hand weakened from exhaustion and my grip slipped from the loft door. My thumb was yanked out of the gap filleting the top part of it off. There was nothing I could do about it and my descent toward the heap of twisted metal and hard ground continued once again.

Instantly after letting go, while still falling, I noticed that at the bottom of the loft doors there was an one-inch wooden ledge sticking out from the bottom of the doors. "Grab that ledge." I commanded myself. As I fell past it I reached out to grab it. I got lucky! My fingers came into perfect contact with the ledge. I gripped onto that ledge with all of my might. I wasn't going to let go. No way! No how! Not now! But, God had a different plan. The weight of my body and the pull of gravity were just too much for my fingers to bear. It caused my fingers to pop off the ledge. I was on my way down again, and picking up momentum. I needed to think of something fast but what could I do? Just then a solution came to my mind that I learned as a little boy watching cartoons on Saturday mornings. It was the Wile E. Coyote trick. I began clawing at the barn frantically with both hands, trying to make it back up to safety. Wile E. Coyote's creators, Hanna Barbara failed me and I knew my 'fall' was coming to an end, and fast. My only, and last, option was to break my fall by absorbing the impact. This was going to be done by timing the speed of the fall with the oncoming ground. At the perfect time I would have to bend my knees, collapse my body, and roll to the ground. I was planning on doing this the best I could and hope for as little physical damage as possible. There were many past experiences that prepared me for this moment. There were the times that my older brother sent me flying through the air as he 'sent' me sailing from the trampoline to the ground. Somehow I always managed to break my fall without getting hurt. I knew this was going to hurt but I was quite confident that I would walk away from this one too.

"This is it," I said to myself as I prepared to look down at the fast approaching ground.

What happened next took place in slow motion. I cocked my head to the side and bent my neck forward towards the ground to gauge the landing. Then it happened! As soon as I looked down, I was there. Unable to react at all, I hit the ground straight legged. I stuck the landing perfectly! If I were a gymnast I would have given myself a perfect 10. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't a gymnast. In fact, there was no spotter, no soft mats, nothing; just the solid ground and me. The force of the fall jarred my legs up toward my head, while the upper part of my body was still coming down. They both met at the L1 (1st Lumbar) vertebrae of my spine, causing it to explode into what I thought was a million pieces, like a china dish hitting the floor. The explosion ran down my legs, up my arms, and out my body like an underground mine explosion. The pain was excruciating! I have nothing to compare it with and to this day, I've never felt it since. As I collapsed to the side and crumbled to the ground I reached down and grabbed my legs. The pain in my legs hurt so bad that I instinctively grabbed one leg to eliminate or at least reduce the pain. As I clutched my leg in agony I grabbed onto it hoping to alleviate some of the pain. Though my hand could feel my leg, my leg in return could not feel my hand. The barn began to spin and the clouds in the sky began to tumble down and around. The enormity of the situation began to sink in. Right then and there I knew something bad had happened.

By this time Doug had recovered from his own fall. Fortunately for both of us there was no damage done to him. He rushed over to me and while shaking me back and forth by the shoulders he cried out, "Jeff are you O.K". ... Are you O.K. Jeff?"

Rocking back and forth I looked up at Doug and calmly said, "I don't think you should be doing that!"

(Continues...)

Excerpted from I'mpossible by Jeff Griffin. Copyright © 2015 Jeff Griffin. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: BalboaPress
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1504335384
• ISBN 13: 9781504335386
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 156