Impostor is defined as “a person who pretends to be someone else in order to deceive others, especially for fraudulent gain.” Surely someone other than me will ‘fess up to feeling this from time to time. I have found that I can completely be oblivious to this feeling and cruise along “acting as if” and then BAM it hits me. I may not really know what I am doing, talking about or pretending to be. Those who have heard me speak about claiming a new identity know that I have dragged this pop up feeling around most of my life. I can be oblivious to the simple fact that I should be cautious about assuming what I can and cannot do. It’s not unusual for me to charge off into some new adventure believing that anything is possible. Suddenly I’m slapped with a dose of reality that maybe I might be in over my head.

As an optimist in myself as well as others, I stay firmly convinced that we can do anything we set our minds to do. In 1997 I became enamored with the idea of climbing Mt. Everest after reading every book published or documentary filmed. I continued to hold this belief until 2013 when I actually signed up to do an Everest trail trek. After arming myself with the requisite gear I found myself huffing and puffing all the way to Namche Bazaar and realized that this was W-A-Y outside my comfort zone and ability. But finish the trek, I did. Over time, I have tempered my belief that anything is possible with the realities of physical ability, age, education and resources. Nope, not everything is for me.

But I do continue to be certain that we can live up to our potential which is limitless. The wisdom I claim which has been developed through decades of absolute glorious living now points me in very reasonable directions. I continue to have hope and inspire hope so that we don’t place ourselves so far outside reasonable zones of ability. Not just comfort, but true passion and ability. Still working on that impostor zone that lurks in the shadows. If I don’t believe it, how will anyone else?