Impossible Feats

I've been told that what Earth Standing Still is trying to accomplish — to get enough people involved to make the idea effective — is impossible. However, it's not impossible, it's just difficult. And by comparison with some other tasks that have been accomplished, not really very difficult at all.

We all know stories that seem unbelievable but are true. Here are two that I find particularly impressive and inspirational.

The Great Escape

During World War II, Germany collected prisoners of war who showed the most determination to escape and put them into a special camp. Buildings were placed 100 yards from the nearest fence and raised off the ground. The soil was very sandy, not conducive to digging tunnels at all. Nevertheless, the prisoners found a way to dig not one but three tunnels using little but empty milk cans; the tunnels were dug 30 feet under the surface and extended more than 100 yards. They made fake identification papers and clothing appropriate for the area. From the point of view of successfully escaping, only three were able to get back home. The rest who made it out of the camp were rounded up; 50 were executed. In spite of that, even if this work were done out in the open with good tools, it would be remarkable. The fact that it was done in secret with practically nothing makes it beyond belief for me. And yet, it was done.

You can read the entire Nova transcript here: Great Escape

Touching the Void

This is the story of two men, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, who decided to take on a mountaineering challenge — climb the 21,000-foot Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes, something that had not yet been done. In addition to that, they tried to do it with a minimum of equipment. They were able to reach the summit but the descent went badly; in worsening conditions, Simpson broke his leg. The two tied their ropes together and Yates had to let him down first, then follow behind. Tragically, as Simpson was let down, he slid over the edge of a crevasse but because of the conditions, Yates could not know this and was waiting for the other's signal to proceed. After waiting for an hour, Yates, not knowing what might have gone wrong, made the decision to cut the rope and get down the mountain on his own.

Simpson fell into the crevasse. Somehow he made his way out, then found his way down. In spite of his broken leg, the steepness of the descent, and the weather, he made it back to their base camp in four days, just as Yates gave up waiting and was about to leave.

This summary does not do the story justice. Unfortunately, I cannot find a complete rendition on the Internet, but you can visit the following to learn more. The Amazon reference is good because you can read what other people had to say as well. I urge you to get a copy of the book or video.

Joe Simpson's site
PBS introduction
Amazon DVD catalog page

So what's impossible?

If you think it's impossible for Earth Standing Still to get a million members, then you're right, it is impossible, simply because you think it. If you forget that number, though, and instead focus on getting one more member, eventually we'll achieve that and more. Please keep the big picture in mind but just do the next little thing that will make this effort successful — find one more member.