“No matter how qualified or deserving we are, we will never reach a better life until we can imagine it for ourselves and allow ourselves to have it.” Richard Bach
Have you heard of the story titled, “The Horse Might Sing”? There are many different versions, but my favorite goes like this:
Nasrudin was caught in the act of stealing and sentenced to die. Hauled up before the king, he was asked by the king, “Is there any reason why I shouldn’t take your head off right now?” To which Nasrudin replied, “I am the greatest teacher in your kingdom, and it would surely be a waste to kill such a great teacher. So skilled am I that I could even teach your favorite horse to sing, given a year to work on it.” The king was amused, and said, “Very well then, you move into the stable immediately, and if the horse isn’t singing a year from now, we’ll think of something interesting to do with you.”
As Nasrudin was moving into the stable, his friend chastised him by saying, “Now that was really foolish. You know you can’t teach that horse to sing, no matter how long you try.”
Nasrudin smiled and said, “I don’t know that at all. I have a year now that I didn’t have before. And a lot of things can happen in a year. The king might die. I might die. The horse might die. And, who knows? The horse might sing.”
I love this story. It’s a message about hope, a reminder that anything is possible and that there are always options – including the “not in a million years “option of the horse singing!
“You always have a choice.” Nicholas Lore
Ask yourself this: When was the last time you found yourself at a crossroads or had to make a major, possibly life-changing decision – and you ended up doing something based on what you thought you COULDN’T do, not on what you MIGHT do? Did you make the decision or take an action based on limiting thoughts and beliefs? What was the outcome, and how did it feel?
Now, ask yourself this: How would it feel if you took an action based on the idea that anything COULD be possible? If you didn’t worry about the outcome, what would you let yourself consider? What options might you have? What choices or decisions could you make?
The decisions we make and the actions we take throughout our lives are usually based on our thoughts and beliefs about our present circumstances as well as our past experiences. You did this, and this happened. You didn’t do that, and that happened. Over time, this becomes the unexamined and unconscious criteria we use to make future decisions.
When we come to a crossroads, seeing all of the possible roads we can take and all of the options that are available to us can certainly be overwhelming and scary. But it can also be a golden opportunity to make some fundamental changes in our lives. It can mark a turning point in how we live our lives.
“All their lives they did what had to be done, and didn’t bother daydreaming about alternative lives because they never expected to be free enough to have a choice.” Barbara Sher
Each of us should be free enough to have a choice. But where to begin?
By giving ourselves permission to harness the power of possibilities!
To my mind, giving ourselves permission is essential in daydreaming about those alternative lives. Permission to stay or go. Permission to say Yes to a new path and a different direction. Permission to say Yes to ourselves. Permission even to say No when it’s the best course of action. Permission to believe that the horse might talk.
For most of us, giving ourselves permission can be challenging. Part generational, part upbringing, part cultural, there are many reasons why we rarely, if ever, consider what we might really want to do or are even willing to try to do. We simply do what we believe we have to do.
But it’s essential that we give ourselves permission to challenge our “I couldn’t do that in a million years” approach to living.
When you give yourself permission to think about what you want, why you want it, and what you’re willing to do or even try to do, you free yourself to at least consider alternatives. Ideas that might not have occurred to you in the past now might start to materialize.
And giving yourself permission to consider all of your options is the key to getting from where you are to where you COULD be. Ideas that might not have occurred to you in a million years now might reveal themselves.
“Nearly impossible and impossible are not the same thing.” Kristen Hannah
Interested in learning how you can harness the power of possibilities? Then watch my video, “Three Simple Steps to Conquering the No Way Out Syndrome,” on my YouTube channel.
In this video, you’ll explore how you can give yourself permission to look at alternatives; recognize that there are always options; and release any limiting thoughts that are holding you back from what you want to have, be, do, or change in your life.
“In order to avoid this bitter end, we have to be reborn again, and born with the knowledge of alternatives.” Maya Angelou
Here’s to being reborn!
