Dwell In Possibility: Some Things Are Easier Said Than Done.

"Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility."

Oprah once said that. And besides the fact that she totally stole the last part from Emily Dickinson, it’s a brilliant thought that deserves deeper interrogation.

Possibility is the draw for millions to this huge apple (that seems to be getting smaller every day), and it’s here! But that “possibility” is often times overshadowed by the harshness of reality. A problem that I (and I believe many others choose to) deal with is that there is too much possibility, an overwhelming quantity of choices, and no one of anything.

Enter a quote from one of my favorite books (Wesley Gibson’s You Are Here):

“There’s a saying in New York that if you’re one in a million there are still ten more just like you. And that’s exactly right. It isn’t so much that there’s too much of everything, though there certainly that, it’s that there’s no one of anything. That may seem like a hairsplitting distinction, but it’s not. One of something is an oasis for the senses, even though everything else may be kaleidoscoping around it. One of something is a rest stop for the mind, however fleeting. When there’s never one of anything, then there really is too much of everything. It’s a twenty-four/seven shift with no coffee break, no lunch, no refreshing trips to the watercooler…It’s too much of muchness.”

Although I totally love and agree with this passage, I assume it’s the liberty and possibility which accompanies this unlimited smorgasbord that keeps me (and million others) on the edge of our subway-car seats anxiously awaiting the next random encounter, the next crazy story, and the next big thing.

In a city of millions of near-misses per day, it’s the once-in-a-blue-moon break (coupled with the intoxicating aroma of possibility) that keeps New Yorkers begging for more. More of the same, more of the unfamiliar, just more of everything this city has to offer.

“I thought this truly seemed like a city where you might meet John Kennedy Jr., then marry him.” (once again Wesley Gibson) Although that won’t be happening to anyone here in the future for obvious reasons, JFK Jr.’s name could be replaced with any high-profile celebrity and the point would be just as clear. I am definitely dwelling in possibility, or at least in the land of it!!

While I was at it, I explored the possibility of including other “possibility” quotes on this post. And then it became reality:

"Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement."
~ Golda Meir

"A likely impossibility is always preferable to an unconvincing possibility."
~ Aristotle

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of potential -- for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints; possibility never."
~ Soren Kierkegaard

"If there exists no possibility of failure, then victory is meaningless."
~ Robert H. Schuller

Alright, kiddies. Let’s collectively get off our asses and make something happen. More To Do, More To Be. Kick Some Ass, Take Names. Claim the Victory. Represent.

And most importantly, TRUST (your gut, that is)!!