It's quiet this morning. The windows are closed, the boys are sleep...even my cat is asleep. He's a big fur-ball all curled up at my feet, resting his paw over his face. Sort of entertaining to watch as he shifts and moves around, completely unaware that I am studying him.
Lately, I've been making more of an effort to see the world around me differently. Or at least attempting to see things I haven't noticed before. I'm greedy; I want to see as many opportunities and open doors as humanly possible and still be able be in the moment when it counts. I draw inspiration from my surroundings, as most writers do, so the last thing I would want happening is for the well of ideas to dry up or become mundane. Being habitual is great for maintaining life's rhythm, but being methodical can cause a person to miss the options, as well as a variety of experiences and encounters.
Until recently, I loathed having too many choices. There were too many 'what ifs' about the impact on my life each choice could make. Of course this was all assuming my life would only ever be defined by the narrow terms I had chosen long ago. I had never even considered that life could be boundless. Actually, that isn't exactly true. There was a time when the world around me was full of more possibilities than I could ever have hoped to imagine; childhood.
Every day was an adventure and the scenarios I would dream up were never restricted by that knee-jerk self limitation that plagues adults. That awful condition that causes a parent to scoff at the off-the-wall ideas or dreams of their child. The same affliction that has us convincing ourselves we could 'never' do x, y or z because we aren't good enough, don't have what it takes, or because it's completely foreign and scares the shit out of us. Sure, we have told ourselves that this is being practical, responsible and safe. Limits keep us from making grave errors or ending up in unknown situations, and while that is somewhat true, we inflate the importance of limits and deny ourselves experiences that are pure and full of untapped potential. As children, we imposed few of these same limits and fought back when others told us we couldn't do things, because we still thought and acted from that amazing state of mind called 'what if'. Fear of the unknown hadn't tainted our minds and hearts.
It is true that making a living and surviving today may limit our time, but does it have to rule our energy and keep us rooted in fear of the unknown? If I want to go to Ireland (which I do), then the only thing keeping me from doing so is those pesky self-limiting thoughts. I have heard the phrase 'Where there is a will, there is a way' throughout my life, but until considering that I don't have to live in this tiny box I have designed, I didn't realize the enormity of that statement.
So today, and every day after, I am going to step outside the confines of this 'box' and see or do things simply because I CAN. No limitations.
