On Being a Possibilitarian

I regularly share readings, quotes and stories from my own life experiences in my yoga classes. As a student, I personally enjoy when a teacher adds this “little something extra” so it’s something I try to bring to my classes as well. It’s so interesting to me how many times a student has come up to me after class and said, “that was exactly what I needed to hear today.” I love that because I think it points to how human we are and that we all go through similar ups and downs in life.

Lately the idea of possibility has been on my mind a lot. While I’m most definitely a hand in lots of pots and go, go, go type of person, I easily find myself doing the whole hamster in a wheel thing way too often. I get so sucked into the daily grind that I have to remind myself to come up for air and ask, “am I grateful, am I happy, am I learning, am I growing, am I open-hearted, am I loving?” I also have to allow myself to take pause to think about the possibilities in the bigger picture life and work stuff.

I taught two classes on Saturday and shared the following passage from Journey to the Heart (<— love this daily meditation book) with my students.

“Think of all the possibilities for your life—for love, for work, for growth. Think of all the possibilities for adventure, for fun, and for service. This day, this week, this month, this year abounds with possibilities. Each task you have to do, each problem you encounter and need to solve abounds with possibilities. Your life abounds with possibilities. For a long time, we only saw some of the possibilities life held. We’d look at a situation and see the possibilities for guilt, victimization, sadness, and despair. We’d tell ourselves there was only one choice, or no choice, or that something had to be done in a particular way—the hardest and dreariest way possible. We’d neglect to envision the other options—the choices for joy, for making any event more fun, more pleasant, more enjoyable.”

Our lives are full of possibility. What I love about this reading so much is that it’s not only focused on the possibilities of the future but the possibilities that exist for us every single day. The possibility to find joy, growth and meaning in all the moments of your life.

The idea of being a possibilitarian is awesome. Possibility is a choice that you have to make. You choose whether you believe that life offers you possibilities or limitations.

If you need proof that possibility is possible for you, look back at where you’ve been.

• For those of us who run, remember when you started running? Did you believe it was possible that you could get stronger and faster and that a 5K could go from feeling like a marathon to a walk in the park?
• For my yogis, when you took your first class and saw people doing headstands and backbends, did you believe it was possible for you to one day be doing the same?
• Gosh, look back to when you went off to college or started your first job or had your first baby. Those are all life experiences brimming with possibility and you figured it out.

Look at the history of your life and believe in how much possibility is out there for you to expand and grow (because you’ve done it so many times before). And then check in with yourself on a day-to-day basis and see if you’re being a possibilitarian or choosing to believe that life is limiting you.

Talk to me about how you view possibility in your life. Do you tend to be more on the side of Possibilitarian or Stuckitarian? Are you able to take a step back and find the possibilities for joy, fun and growth in all the moments of your life?