When It Absolutely Has to Get Done

© 2004 Boaz Rauchwerger

The time was 5:20 Wednesday afternoon. I was in a television studio in San Diego completing the editing on a 30-minute infomercial. The client was getting more and more nervous as the minutes ticked away.

This incident took place a few years ago when I was producing these television programs that get you out of bed at 1:00 in the morning to buy something you didn’t know you needed.

The client had purchased airtime in another city and the program we were working on had to be there the next day. Final editing took longer than expected and the client, realizing that the Federal Express final drop off time nearby was 5:30, was sweating bullets.

“We’re going to miss Fedex and I’m going to lose a lot of money in airtime,” he said. Mustering all the confidence I could fake, I said, “Don’t worry. I’ll get it there somehow. Just go home and I’ll call you in a couple of hours.”

Too many people allow the phrase, “It can’t be done” to close the door on possibilities. My parents were from Europe and I was born in Israel. I am a product of cultures that don’t give much credence to the word “can’t.”

I was taught to believe that, with persistence and determination, solutions can usually be found for most any problem. I grew up with the idea that we don’t ‘hope, wish or try,” we simply DO! And, when everyone else is ready to quit, that’s when we dig our heels in and find a way to make it happen.

The clock on the wall showed 5:30 sharp when the master copy of the program was completed. I sent the nervous client home and took off for the nearby Fedex warehouse. I got there at 5:40. The door was locked at closing time, ten minutes earlier. Option one was gone.

That’s when I noticed all the Fedex trucks coming through the gate and heading for the back of the warehouse. Positioning myself at the gate, I gave my saddest look as I made eye contact with every driver. Finally, one of them stopped and asked what I was doing.

I explained that I’d be in big trouble if my package didn’t get sent overnight. The driver apologized for the fact that he wasn’t allowed to put packages directly onto his truck.

“So,” I inquired, “where do the packages go from here?” “They’re taken to the San Diego Airport Fedex terminal where they’re loaded on a plane. But the public can’t go down there,” he related.

Thanking him, I promptly headed for San Diego’s Lindberg Field. Getting close to the airport, it wasn’t hard to notice the procession of Fedex trucks heading for their corner of the tarmac.

I followed these trucks and parked just outside their gate. There it was. In the distance, about 30 yards away, a Boeing 727 with the Fedex logo on the tail. This was MY plane. Whatever it took, my package was flying on that plane that night! There was no other way. This absolutely, positively had to get done!

How much more could each of us accomplish if we decided that certain important things in our lives HAD TO GET DONE? No retreat, no reverse gear, just a solid, steadfast determination to find a solution.

Once again, I positioned myself by the gate and presented my saddest face as I made eye contact with each driver coming through the gate. One finally stopped and asked what I was doing. I explained my predicament and he, apologetically, said he couldn’t take a package directly onto his truck.

There was no retreat. I kept staring at each driver. Finally, a second driver stopped. “What’s the matter?” he asked. “I barely missed the 5:30 cutoff time at your warehouse,” I explained, “and I’m going to be in very big trouble if this package is not on that plane when it leaves.”

Certain powers of the universe seem to come into play when we show confidence and determination. Those powers, at that moment, somehow touched this one particular driver. He calmly said, “You know, if I were to look away for a moment, and a package just happened to fly into my truck, I couldn’t be responsible for that.”

That was it. He looked away, and you know the rest of the story... It arrived promptly at its destination the next morning and the client was thrilled.

Next time you may be tempted to say, “This can’t be done,” why not open your mind and ask “How can this be done?” What if your life depended on a solution? Would you make an extra effort? Would you look for more possibilities? Of course you would. You will be amazed with how simply solutions will take flight.

An Affirmation of Determination

When I face tough challenges, I find solutions.