Be Bold

It Couldn’t Be Done

By Edgar Guest

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it”;
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

I have always loved this poem.

Perhaps it’s because I harbor grand schemes of doing great things.

Sprinkled all over Fort Benning, there are posters showing soldiers in training, and at the top of the poster, it reads, “What have you done for this Fort Benning Soldier today?” About six months ago, I asked myself, “What have I done for this Fort Benning Soldier today?” Since I was a time zone away visiting my family, the answer was—nothing.

But an idea was planted.

I was going to make quilts for Fort Benning soldiers, more specifically, the Fort Benning soldiers in Big Sarge’s unit in Afghanistan. Before you all think this was a huge operation, his unit is quite small—only 20 or so guys.

I started cutting up blue jeans.

I started asking for donations of old blue jeans.

The rear detatchment (with the blessing of the rear detatchment commander) donated their time to cut quilt squares for me. I sewed in every spare minute I had.

Were there people who thought I couldn’t do it? You betcha. The term “hair-brained” was thrown around with great abandon (Thanks, Mom). But she and Grandma made a few quilts, too, so I guess maybe, deep down, she really thought it was a good idea, too.

And just yesterday, the last of the packages of quilts made their way to Afghanistan.

Just in time for Christmas, Big Sarge’s unit is going to be toasty warm. I’m already planning ahead for next Christmas. Anyone know a company in South Korea I could “adopt?”

Is there something that people say you can’t do?

Let’s just pretend it’s not breaking the land speed record in on-post housing. Your friendly MPs tend to frown on that sort of thing.

Maybe someone tells you that you can’t go back to school. Or that you won’t qualify for that job. Or that you will never finish that novel about time-traveling pirates. (I’d totally read that, by the way.)

Or that you don’t have what it takes.

First: Find some new people to hang out with.

Second: Be bold. Be ambitious. Take a chance.

You never know what you can accomplish until you try. Even if it doesn’t turn out the way you hoped for, you will be better off because of the attempt.