“Anything is possible” is inscribed on a belt my husband had made for me when we first started dating. I loved the belt (and still do) and its hopeful message. However, at the core I did not really believe that anything is possible. It sounded too good to be true.

Well…maybe anything is possible if we put our hearts and minds behind it. Take the story of Sarah Churman who was born deaf and remained so.  Now, at 29, Sarah has received a new kind of hearing implant, which allows her to hear her own voice.  Sarah’s husband Sloan filmed the first time she hears herself speak, which is a powerful reminder not only of how precious our senses are (and how much we take them for granted), but also of how adaptive we are in the face of their loss if bolstered by our passions.

As you will hear in the video, adaptation in Sarah’s case meant that despite a severe hearing loss, she cultivated perfectly clear speech.  She explains: “My whole life I’ve been complimented on how well I speak. I don’t really have an answer for you other than I have always had a passion for reading, grammar, and English.”

So if Sarah was able to speak English well despite not having been able to hear her own voice all that time, what does that mean for the rest of us and our challenges? No doubt, developing a passion is a powerful engine to make the seemingly impossible come true, is it not?