Everything is figure-out-able!

Here’s something I’d love to share with you!

Marie Forleo is a fabulous lady we can all learn a lot from. She’s an entrepreneur, writer and an optimist. Her husband, Josh is an actor.

She shared a story at an event which might help all of us in looking at our lives with a different perspective.

Marie and Josh were married for 7 years. They were both doing really well professionally but things weren’t all that great on the personal front. They decided to do something about it and looked out for couple counselling. The main issue was that she was always working! She loved her work so much but at the same time she felt bad that this was the reason she might lose the man she loved.

Marie realised that they never went on a vacation together. They did travel but it was only work related. She decided to do something about this and booked a 4 day trip to Barcelona to celebrate Josh’s birthday. He had been wanting to visit this place for the past 7 years!

Tickets. Check. Bookings. Check. Packing. Check. They were all set to leave. She had coaching calls scheduled till the very last minute they needed to leave for the airport.

They left on time and would have made it just in time only, if only, they hadn’t hit a major traffic jam!  They entered the JFK airport and went straight to the check in counter.

The lady at that counter looked at them. She looked at the computer screen. And she looked at them again only to say, “I’m Sorry. You’ve missed the deadline to check in your bags.” Marie and Josh tried to convince her. After all, it was 4:55 and the flight was to take off at 5:45.

After a brief argument, she finally said, “I’m really sorry.  But you’re not going to make it.”

Her heart sank. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Because those words – you’re not going to make it meant a lot more than that to Josh and her. She looked over and at the disappointment on Josh’s face – not about the trip, but really about them.

In that moment, she remembered a lesson that a tiny, but mighty woman taught her years ago. This woman was only about 5 feet tall, full of energy and was almost always at some work. Her name was Miriam. She was Marie’s mother.

Miriam always looked out for discount coupons and freebies. She purchased stuff that offered value for money. She had a little radio. It looked just like an orange with a straw sticking out (the antenna). And of course, it was for free! She had got with a pack of Tropicana orange juice.

Whenever Marie got back home from school, she would listen to the music and figure out where her mom was in the house. One day she followed the sound which seemed to be at a height and was surprised to find her mom on top of the roof. Marie asked her, “Maa! Are you okay? What are you doing up there?” Miriam replied saying the labourers were asking for 500 bucks to repair the leakage in the roof. She had the material and decided to repair it herself.

The next day, Marie got home and tried figure out where the Tropicana radio was playing from.

The bathroom! Miriam was retiling the bathroom. She said she had all the equipment needed and didn’t need someone else to come and fix the tiles for her. This is all from the 80’s. There was no google, no youtube to give you a demonstration and answer your ‘how to’ questions!

There was a day when she got back but couldn’t hear the sound of the radio. She found her mom in the kitchen with that radio dismantled into 20 parts! And as usual, her mom preferred to repair it herself 😊

Marie asked her mom, “Maa, how do you know how to do everything yourself? No one’s taught you how to do this.” Miriam looked at her daughter and said , “There’s nothing we cannot do. Always remember. Everything is figure - out- able.”

Everything is figure – out – able! Yes, indeed. Everything is figure - out – able!

At that very moment, Marie realised that she has to figure her way out. She ran down the staircase to a store for bags. She picked up a huge duffle bag. The plan was to dump all their luggage and carry it all with them instead of checking it in!

They frantically began to start dumping everything they could in that bag. The cops at the airport came to see where all that noise came from! Josh managed to convince them to take care of their empty suitcases and both of them ran towards the security check. It was 5:20 pm.

They had to be in the aircraft (which had been rescheduled to depart from another terminal!) in the next 20 minutes.  The guy at the security check figured out who Josh was. And called out to his colleagues and friends to come and take a selfie with the actor! Clearly, not a good time for him to be recognised.

They started running towards the gate, which was obviously, the farthest one in the line! She took the duffle bag from him and asked him to run first to stop the aircraft. She ran as fast as she could with that bag. It was 5:40 pm. She saw him waving at her. She couldn’t understand if he was asking her to keep running or not bother to run at all. She decided to keep going and finally she was there!

The airhostess welcomed them and said – Hi! Welcome aboard! You made it! 😊

They made it. Marie and Josh looked at each other and they knew this was worth it. 

They recently celebrated their 13^th anniversary and have made it a point to go on a vacation every year.

Isn’t this a classic example of winning when you know you can do it? If you believe you can figure a way out, give it a shot! Believe in yourself. Take the first step. Follow the road and you will find solutions on the way that lead you to your destination.

Remember. Everything is figure- out-able!

If you believe you can, you can. If you believe you can’t, you are right!

– Henry Ford