hold the possibility

k:
Ant gave me a book for Christmas… Practice Random Acts of Kindness. Here is an excerpt that stuck with me. And you'll probably be hearing more out of this book in the future.

Hold the Possibility

If you can imagine it,
you can create it,
if you can dream it,
you can become it.
-William Arthur Ward

"Me second child died when he was four," recalled Clea. "It was such a devastating experience that it took me years to recover. My whole life seemed to have suddenly gone from bright technicolor to drab shades of gray. Just getting up in the morning was a major undertaking. I couldn't understand how this could happen, and I had no hopes for the future. It seemed like everything was empty of meaning and feeling. After I'd been wallowing for six months in grief and depression, my younger sister came to me and told me it was time to start living again. She told me that I had to fix a picture in my mind of a day in the future when the sun was shining and I was playing with my daughter, laughing and having fun. She told me that even if it seemed impossible, I still had to imagine it could be true."

"I tried, but it was very difficult. After a while I could see it, but it seemed buried in the shadows. Gradually, the picture became more and more clear to me until, indeed, the day came when I did feel exactly as I had imagined. Then more and more days began to feel like that."

Fortunately, not all of us have to go through what Clea did. But we each hold the capacity to draw toward ourselves the things we want in life through envisioning their possibility—even if right now they seem impossible. If you desire more love, compassion, and peace of mind in your life, you can begin to create that reality by holding the possibility of being more loving, compassionate, and peaceful. What would a picture of what you want look like? Make is as detailed as possible, and take a moment each day for the next week to imagine it.