Opening to Possibility

I have a problem. Well, maybe not a problem per se as I love it and have no intention of changing it any time soon. But it probably hovers near addiction (not it’s not caffeine…that's a full-on actual addiction, and I’m perfectly content with it).

I take a lot of classes.

I mean a lot.

I take them in person at community centers and in church basements and in local middle schools at night where the thumping of basketballs in the gymnasium creates a staccato punctuation to the instruction (Now thump take out thump your thump pencils…thump thump thump).

I take them online, filling hard drives with the downloads and dog walks with lessons mainlined right to my brain through my earbuds.

I’ve taken classes on business and web design. I’ve taken knitting and drawing and, as I mentioned recently, an impromptu watercolor basics class. I once attended a 2-hour workshop on everything you need to know about home funerals. 

I told you…I have a problem. #sorrynotsorry

You see, my addiction isn’t just to the learning. 

It’s to the practice of possibility. 

Because it does, indeed, take actual practice to train ourselves to believe— down to our very marrow— that change and growth are truly attainable for us.

That it's never too late for doors to open and transformation to occur.

We practice our mindset around this daily, one way or another. 

If we say, “Ugh, I hate technology and I’ll never be able to figure this out,” we are reinforcing the belief that our capacity is limited, that all paths that include technology are closed to us.

If we say, “Ugh, this is frustrating and hard and not my favorite thing, but what if I can learn it? What if I do a little googling and reach out to my techie friend and go over to the Apple store to see if they can help me understand?” we are reinforcing the belief that we have choice and autonomy over our growth, over our capacity. That we can learn, that the possibility is open to us, and it is our decision as to whether or not we choose to put our energy and effort toward it.

Asking the question, “What if…” has the ability to open up our worlds.

What if…I let this go?

What if…I forgive her?

What if…there is room for all of us in this?

What if…things don’t have to stay this way?

So…what if today we all practiced this? What of we practiced saying “what if” instead of “I can’t” or “it’s too late” or “I don’t like”?

What might that look like for you? What doors might it open? What could you learn or try or address?

My current class is a fiction writing group and one of my classmates is a 97 year old woman writing her first book ever. It’s a young adult fantasy novel replete with time travel and magic and dragon slaying. Yesterday on our call, someone asked her what inspired her to join the group. Her response?

“I woke up one morning and thought, ‘what if I wrote a book? wouldn’t that be a lark?’ so here I am! And it is a lark! What fun I’m having!” 

What fun she’s having. 

We don’t always have to find the solution to world hunger.

Sometimes we contribute to the wider world by more deeply enjoying our own little one.

Practicing possibility is one way to do that.