What is the Joy of Possibility?
“If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!”
―Søren Kierkegaard,Either/Or: A Fragment of Life
I’ve been thinking a lot about ‘possibility’ lately, and what it really means to let it into our lives.
Possibility can be the unknown, the opportunities that show up that we might miss if we aren’t paying attention. Those seemingly tiny decisions, to take this route instead of that, to try this new pastime instead of that one, to strike up a conversation with a stranger.
But there’s a deeper part of possibility that is central to our experience of life. It’s the belief in what is possible, seeing that things aren’t permanently as they appear in this moment, that change is always around the corner if we’re open to it.
The world can feel like a magical place when we are in this open stance, ready to receive whatever life throws at us. If we are tuned into possibility, we find that life unfolds in a way that is interesting, engaging, full of connection and creation.
Often we shut down possibility; by believing too much in our own experience, by thinking that we know how the world works, and what’s possible and impossible. When we do, we miss opportunities for joy, growth, newness and rebirth. We live inside of our “possibilities”, inside that space of the known and the familiar.
I’m not talking here about comfort zones, or intentional growth, although that is something that will expand our known possibilities.
What I’m talking about is being open to the idea that there are possibilities that you don’t even know about. That your idea of what is impossible is grounded in limited knowledge and experience. Being open to being wrong, holding your truth lightly.
Being open to possibility is a wonderful way to live and to experience the world. It keeps us having fresh new experiences, and seeing things that others might miss. And it creates opportunities every day for seeing the world as the magical, fascinating place that it is.
Try this for the next few days:
Take a few minutes every day to think and journal about what might be possible today. Notice how your available possibilities appear limited by your circumstances. Then ask, what if it were possible to…? Let yourself explore the ‘impossible” and see where that takes you.
And join our group, Catching Possibilities, on Facebook, where the amazing coach Andrew Hogan and I are exploring the art of possibility, with live Zoom calls and more!
