Here’s what I think: Everyone who says it’s not possible, everyone that says, “oh he’s not gonna make it,” I think they say that because they’re afraid. Mathematically, yes, he won’t. He won’t accomplish the impossible, because the chances are so slim. You’re bound to be correct. But I find it cowardice to give up hope simply to be right. It’s braver to take the risk of being wrong, and fight against those daunting odds. It’s braver to say, despite the math, he might be the one. He might just do it. He might.
I think there’s a way to be optimistic and still realistic. And it’s this balance that I believe to be healthiest. If you come to a situation with a realistic but positive hope for how it will turn out, your mind can never hold you back if you’re mindful of the difference between hope and expectation. You can feel the difference. Hope is freeing, it’s butterflies emerging from their cocoons. Hope gives you goosebumps. Expectation is heavy, it weighs on you like a mountain does the earth. It feels immobilizing. Feel it in your being and release it.
You already have everything you need.