The sense of possibility is one of the most enlivening experiences we can have. Possibility is potentiality, prospect, hope. The open-ended, uncertain nature of life allows for possibility…to be possible! The future is unwritten, unknown, in which new things can emerge or be created.
Possibility is a mindset. It is an optimistic approach to life that focuses on what could happen, what can be. The possible is often not perceived as the practical because it doesn’t exist or hasn’t happened yet, but when the possible emerges as the actual it is then recognised as practical.
How do we cultivate possibility in our lives? How do we open to new ways of being in the world of creating new realities and living out unactualized potentialities that exist latent within us? A passion for the possible comes from the ability to be open and flexible, not fixed and rigid. It emerges with an attitude of not-knowing, and the ability to let go of fixed beliefs about what could happen. It is ultimately a belief that realities that do not currently exist, can exist; that even seemingly unlikely realities can be brought into being.
A creative mindset is what enables possibility. The creative attitude is one in which there is a willingness to try new things, to experiment and explore new ways of perceiving and acting. A sense of curiosity and playfulness is deeply supportive of this process too. A mind that inquires, that questions, is one in which possibility is born:
What would happen if…?
How might…?
What is a different way of…?
Reflection:
When have you experienced a deep sense of possibility in your life?
What areas of your life do you currently experience possibility? How could you transfer this orientation to another area?
What areas in your life do you experience the opposite? How might you re-frame things to create even a peek of possibility in what previously seemed shut down?
When you contemplate your future, does it feel like a landscape of possibility or limitation/ certainty? Why?
The metaphor of the journey is one that evokes a sense of possibility on the paths of our lives. Do you see your life in this way and if not, how might you begin to look at your life as a journey, a process of adventure and discovery?
Who do you know who embodies a strong sense of possibility in their approach to life? How do they look at the world? How might you experiment with using this mindset in your own life?
What other approaches might help you to practice possibility in your life?
What sorts of pictures would you need to hold in mind to create a sense of possibility? What sort of language can you adopt internally? (For example ‘I can…’, ‘I could…’).
Simply imagining possibilities strengthens this creative capacity in us but action is needed in order to begin to bring these visions into reality.