What Happened to My Endless Possibilities?
You might notice how often I use the phrase, “endless possibilities.” Endless possibilities is another way to talk about the resilience that’s built into humans.
I realize as I write this that “endless” and “possibilities” have become welded together in my brain. It doesn’t occur to me the phrase is essentially two unconnected words because, at this point in my life, possibilities seem endless to me.
How can it be any other way? Just like the phrase, “unconditional love,” “endless possibilities” contains an unnecessary modifier. The nature of love is already unconditional; it doesn’t need a modifier.
Love only becomes conditional when we extract or withhold certain qualities that are contained within it, like acceptance, forgiveness, approval, and respect. So “conditional” love isn’t really love at all, just a watered-down version of something that started as love.
The word “possibilities” doesn’t need a modifier either. By their nature, possibilities are infinite, in other words, possibilities are already endless, and in need of no adjectives.
Where did we ever get the idea that possibilities could be limited? Just like me, you’re made of possibilities, just like you’re made of love. I believed in limited possibilities for most of my life, which explains why my life felt always felt constricted.
The illusion that possibilities are somehow limited rises when discouraging thoughts are taken more seriously than they deserve to be taken.
Discouragement is nothing more than talking yourself out of possibilities. It’s you saying “no” to life. I often did this because I wasn’t able to visualize the path by which the possibilities would come into form.
I understand now that I don’t have to know every step of the path in advance. The path will reveal itself if I’m willing to move forward.
In other words, I’ll see the path exactly when I need it, and not a moment before.
It was alarming to me when I saw the path repeatedly appear just when I needed it. In truth, those “just in time paths” were always there, but my mind was going too fast for me to see them. It was only when I let my mind relax and slow down that they became apparent to me.
Here’s a small but telling example. Every Saturday, my Zoom group Songshare gets together and we sing to one another, one at a time, a cappella. I know hundreds of songs, but I love to keep learning new ones, so I’m often singing new material that’s not yet burned into my memory.
There are often times when I’m singing and my mind wants to race ahead, maybe to reassure me that I know the line I’m going to sing next. Most of the time, I have no idea what the next line is, but when I get to it, I always hear the right words come out of my mouth.
It’s not that I have a fail-proof memory, but the trust I have in knowing I’ll have what I need when I need it has become strong enough that I don’t let myself worry. I know that what I need will be there when I need it.
Just that one thing makes possibilities seem endless. I suspect it’s because by keeping myself open to what’s happening and showing up at any given moment, I’m putting myself in the best position to pick up on what opportunities are emerging, moment by moment.
It makes me curious about what might be coming my way, and it reminds me of what I’m made of. Just like you, I’m made of possibilities. Can you think of a better way to let yourself see and experience endless possibilities?
