Have you ever achieved the impossible? Overcome the hugest obstacle?

I have beat cancer three times, first time being during my childhood. If that’s not overcoming a huge obstacle, then I don’t know what is.

@mambo yep. that totally counts

I lack a formal education much beyond 11th grade, but managed to be reasonably well educated anyway. Probably the biggest thing I’ve overcome, though, is a very traumatic childhood. I not only survived, but now thrive. I know many people who are not so lucky.

Childhood abuse and abandonment to self-respect and liking.

I was told I was ‘language oriented’ as well and not given the chance to be streamed into the ‘college math and science’ classes like Algebra 2 and trig and physics. I ended up working in accounting, creating formulas and spreadsheets, correcting math done by more qualified accountants, auditing systems and ultimately owned half of an accounting practice. Now, I enjoy reading about physics and science just for fun and even have had some science articles published. I wish someone had told me that there was such a job as ‘science writer’ or ‘science journalist’ because it would have set me on the right path from the get-go instead of attacking it as piece-meal and not very successful.

Yes. I’ve survived a traumatic childhood and multiple brain tumours.
In grade 9, my English teacher told me I could never be an artist because I wasn’t good in math. I’ve sold a lot of artwork since then.

I just want to give everyone in this thread a hug right now. We have a strong group of people here on Fluther. :)

People consistently tell me that I am kind and compassionate, and that is a big triumph considering the scary environment I grew up in.

I’ve taken a progressive chronic auto-immune disease that interferes with my functioning on a daily basis and made it a reason to be more responsible than almost any Western youngin’ my age.

While there are many things in my favor that were not my own doing (from socioeconomic class and workplace protections to the fact that I am a trans guy and not a trans woman in a world full of sexism and transmisogyny), I also consider it a triumph that I decided so early to transition, and have proceeded without hesitation in a world that sincerely wants people like me to not exist.

In the 6th grade, on a class trip to the Observatory, I realized that Jupiter had rings. The astronomer there chided me, saying it didn’t, and I couldn’t convince him to look through the telescope and see what I was seeing, which was incredibly subtle, but visible. Jupiter was announced by NASA to have rings 30 years later.

In High School, my Physics teacher gave us several pages of Newtons work, and said we needed to find the mistake. 20 minutes in, I found it, and the teacher was surprised. 15 or so years later, some college student made news because he had found the same mistake, and his teacher realized that NO ONE had ever found it. Well, that was twice I got burned.

In 1977 or so, I ran into Arnold Schwartzeneggar, who was signing books at a local bookstore. I made a joke about how much he wrote, and he didn’t understand the word I used. I defined it for him, and he laughed at it, and made his own joke. So, now I can brag that I taught Conan the Republican the meaning of the word “Cramp”.

It’s all true.