A Surreal Moment At My Ex-Wife’s House

Well, to be clear, the house actually belongs to my ex-wife Catherine’s folks. Catherine and her husband are visiting from California with our two children and staying there during their visit. My girlfriend Alex and I are visiting for brunch. So there’s my ex-wife, her husband, her aunt, her parents, our two kids, their newest edition, my girlfriend and me. If you are getting a slightly awkward vibe from this scenario, you are among the majority of people who consider this sort of gathering bizarre.

Here’s the bizarre thing: It’s not bizarre at all. The impossible has occurred. A permanent shift has happened inside my way of thinking that wasn’t present before. Seriously, hop into the nearest plutonium-powered time-traveling Delorean, go back in time two years, find me, and ask me if I think there’s a chicken nugget’s chance in a shark tank that I’ll find my way to complete resolution with my ex-wife, and to absolute peace after divorce. My answer would have been worse than a “no.” I would have told you that I’m as resolved and at peace as I’ll ever be. A gnat’s sneeze away from suing for custody of my children, refusing to step across the threshold of the home of my ex-wife and her new husband, holding most of the blame over her . . . I’ll show you bizarre: That was my definition of a peaceful resolution!

At this present-day brunch, I look around the house where I once resided (we had to move in with her parents for a spell). I briefly notice the furniture, the smells, the pictures, the layout of the house. And I am suddenly aware that there is no meaning attached to any of it; no burdensome memories. I am struck with the unmistakable realization that I am absolutely at peace. The world briefly stops spinning as I reflect on a time when I couldn’t have set foot inside this house without having a mental breakdown, surrounded by the dark memories and broken dreams attached in some way to every object inside those walls. And here I am, at peace with everyone present, the kids as happy as ever, with the added blessing of an amazing girlfriend with a spirit strong enough to gracefully share this experience with me, surrounded by the family of my ex-wife.

Dear friends, this is the very essence of The Impossibility Movement: Taking something which previously existed outside the realm of possibility and watching it move into the realm of what is possible. The Movement is not limited to finding peace and resolution in the wake of divorce. This is only a minor representation of what is possible. The end of world hunger, harmony among religions, alliance among politicians, a planet without war, these are among the things that are completely within the realm of possibility where hopelessness once existed.

No one ever generated anything great, powerful, magnificent, or miraculous by operating within the realm of what everyone accepted as possible. No, my friends. Operate within the realm of what is impossible with the intent to make it possible, and watch the miraculous happen.