"Can't" is a 4-letter word

With a little effort, dedication, hard work, ingenuity, and a "can-do" attitude, anything is possible.

Years ago, my grandfather taught me one of life's most valuable lessons.

Growing up, Grandpa Charlie would challenge me with some seemingly impossible task. I would tell him "I can't".

That was the wrong thing to say.

He would always respond something like "Oh baloney, how do you know you can't do it if you aren't even willing to try!" Well, being the stubborn person I was (and still am), I would try whatever impossible task it was just to prove to him I couldn't do it. And low and behold, I was usually successful.

This episode repeated more times throughout my early years than a Seinfeld episode episode on TBS, with the same result practically every time. He was always right.

And even when I failed and tried the "see, I told you I couldn't do it" retort, He was already with his comeback. He challenged me to figure out what I did that kept me from success and make the changes. He would work through the problem with me, but would never just give me the answer or the solution. He taught me how to think for myself. He taught me how to turn my failures into successes. For this, I am eternally greatful.

I gradually learned never to say "I can't". With every problem, there lies a solution.

With a little effort, dedication, hard work, ingenuity, and, most importantly, a "can-do" attitude, anything is possible.

There is no doubt that at some point next Saturday I am going to go through numerous highs and lows. I have read that Ironman has numerous faces including pretty, ugly and downright evil. I am sure I will rotate through all three faces as the day goes on. I know I will spend more than a little time dealing with the ugly and evil sides.

While fighting past ugly and evil, I may mutter some things under my breath. You may hear an "f" bomb or two. There will be multiple "This sucks". I may even openly ask myself "What the hell was I thinking?"

But you won't hear the phrase "I can't".

I can do this.

I can, and will, conquer ugly and evil.

At the end of the day, I plan on dancing with pretty.

Much of this is directly because of the valuable lessons my grandfather taught me many years ago.

Can't is a 4-letter word.

My grandfather, the same man who, when I was 5, used Black Jack as a tool for teaching me addition and subtraction.

Seriously. Black Jack. And it worked too. If I had, say, a 5 and a 9, he would make me add them up and tell him what I had. He would then make me subtract what I had from 21 and tell him what card I needed before I could "hit" or "stay". For those of you with young kids, try it. It is so much more fun than flash cards. They get to play a game while studying. Better yet, give the kids some poker chips and when they lose all their chips, make them do some chore.