LISTENING FOR POSSIBILITY

 Light at the End of a Tunnel, Torno, Italy, 2015

“There are no facts that limit possibility, there are only conversations that limit or create possibility. Language shapes the way we think, the way we live our lives, and it gives us hands-on access to a world that’s open to being invented.”

~ Laurel Scheaf, Landmark Forum Leader

LISTENING FOR POSSIBILITY

I have been reflecting on how I listen to my internal conversations. I’m pretty good at discerning the voice of old patterns from the voice of inspiration. What I notice however, is that when I distinguish the voice of old limiting patterns, the voice that convinces me I don’t belong, or that I didn’t do it right, etc., I default to my training and think about the source of the pattern and then tell myself it’s an old voice, and sort of push ahead with the actions that I had planned for the day. What my experience is then throughout the day, is I take action in spite of the feeling, so I feel the low mood while I get scheduled things done, but the inspiration, the joy of life, is missing. It’s like I have accomplished things in the face of duress, I’ve risen above the arduous pull of the past! But … not a great day.

What started to occur to me was, what if the old patterns of thought were not really necessary mindsets to “deal” with, rather flashing lights pointing me towards what has been keeping me from what’s possible? Maybe I’m feeling depressed because I’m paying attention to those old patterns of thought? Maybe what I’m really doing is giving myself permission to step back into the past, which is actually over, disappeared really, as a means of distracting myself  from creating what’s possible, what I am actually committed to? What if those old patterns, from this different vantage point, were actually a possible portal to inspiration, creativity, and power - reminders of how I can get caught and what is really needed to re-engage in life and self-expression? What if listening to the insecurity, fear, nervousness, from the vantage point of possibility, was an access to freedom?!

Same language, different translation.

Listening to the past pulls me into a state of mind that made sense to me when I  didn’t have access to the possibilities I can see now. Now noticing the past conversation and then taking it as a cue to get present and step into possibility, opens up alignment with well-being, hope, and inspiration.

This way of listening is a discipline, a practice which takes ongoing remembering, yet one which definitely seems worth cultivating.