Stan Lee died recently.
He was, if you didn’t know, the guy who invented just about all the superheroes on at the movies at the moment. If you’ve seen a super hero film in the last ten years you would have seen him – he got himself a cameo in every single one of them.
The only reason I mention him and superheroes is the power of “What if?”
As children we imagined a lot, constantly, forever. “What if?” was our default.
Anything seemed possible – anything – and we lived like it was true.
Superheroes? We were them. Unicorn riding princesses from another realm? It was a fact.
Now as adults?
“What if?” has pretty much been replaced with “Nah, not possible, not for me.”
“Be Real,” means “Pull your head in, stop being a dreamer.”
While there’s a lot to be said for objectivity and clarity, I think it’s vital that you err on the side of possibility.
Reminds me of a quote I read the other night:
______
“Be a skeptic but never a cynic.”
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A skeptic is “I’m not sure, but I’m willing to see differently.”
A cynic is “Nah, not possible, never, you won’t and you can’t.”
If you’re honest with yourself, you might see that happening in your life – all over the place.
You spend so much time focussing on what could go wrong, and why you can’t or shouldn’t … so you don’t.
Or you manage to start, but then plagued with the same doubting voices, you don’t finish.
Life becomes grey and routine, your dreams and plans never get painted with reality.
Publishing my book was the exact same journey: a constant vigilance against the mind and all the reasons why not.
I now see getting anything to the finish line is an achievement, regardless of the quality of the thing, just getting it done is something.
So if you want more from your life,why not invest in a little self-awareness? Start right there, inside your own head.
And that indeed is your homework for the next week, very much related to practicing a sense of awe, wonder and innocence:
Become mindful of that voice in your head, the cynical voice of constant impossibility.
Despite what it says try having an attitude of freshness and innocence; allow a dream or two.
You might want to open up a notebook and sketch out what and why … don’t worry about the how, just allow yourself to be creative, open – tap into “What If?” for a time.
Don’t edit, just write or draw or whatever.
Sit with it, then maybe you might see a way to begin. An easy first step. Something that will get you going. It might take time, it might not happen, no matter.
Regardless, simply allowing yourself to crack open the door of possibility is quite something in itself.
Give it a try and see how it works out for you.
Go well!
Arjuna
PS.
Someone got super offended about this, when I was telling a group about possibility once.
They said I was setting people up to fail, for disappointment.
That certain things were impossible, and as soon as we got to accept our “station” in life (I’m paraphrasing), then we can get on with the act of living (or surviving, I think they meant).
I used to live as not much was possible.
There was a brief (thank goodness) window of time where live was extremely grey, and rather pointless.
Allowing potential, possibility and a dream or two was essential to me, simply because then life started to have a little colour.
Life without possibility is a sad life indeed. Life with the cynic is tough.
Sure, you have to be “real,” but you can equally hold a possibility too. They aren’t mutually exclusive. So don’t let them be!
The fascinating thing was as soon as I started to allow the possibility that maybe I could, or maybe I might – even though I didn’t have a clue HOW– then the means, the how started to come along as well.
Everything starts with an idea.
PPS.
Don’t miss the webinar this Sunday.
Manyu - an internationally sought after meditation and mindfulness teacher - and I are going to be talking about possibility and purpose amongst a whole lot of other things.
It’s to celebrate the release of my book, “200% – An Instruction Manual for Living Fully” and is going to be all about the 200% life.
It’s free, and to get the details, register here:
www.arjunaishaya.com/200-book-release-webinar