I can't help being an idealist. Who else will help realists aim for any better?
I respect realists. I have learned over the years how to integrate a bit more realism into my more
idealistic ways of
thinking.
It's incredibly important to have a focus on what's practical and achievable but really how do we gauge what's practical and achievable?
In this world, my deepest belief is that the possibilities are endless. I live by this. I have trained myself to view things only in terms of probabilities. And I know that even the most improbable things can and do happen.
Some call those low improbability things miracles. When there's a 1% chance of success at something we want, don't we still hope for and want it? And does it not actually happen sometimes? What really goes into making it happen though? Luck? Prayers? Positive thinking? Meditation? Energy work? What do we really know about manipulating circumstances in our favor? And which circumstances are more manipulatable? This is my mind. I think I'm straying a bit too much out.
When I was a teen, I came across the quote: Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Napoleon Hill said that. And I have carried that with me through my years and I have tested it out some here and there. I do have a great sense of determination and that combined with my idealistic views makes for a really practical path towards progress instead of stagnancy or complacency.
What I am saying is that when we set goals that are too safe or incremental, we miss out on greater achievements. We miss out on grasping new ideas and aspects of our own potential. We are so much more capable than we think. So much is within our reach.
We see our potential all around us. But some think that only circumstances dictate the flourishing of that potential. Some think that it's luck. Some think that they are not the ones with the potential, others are. But I don't believe that. I believe that the potential is in us all. Regardless of circumstance.
There is so much we can control and so much we cannot control. My favorite about this -- The Serenity Prayer. I don't actually know where that comes from and I don't feel like looking it up, but this part:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
We'll talk about God in another episode but get what I'm trying to say here – accept the things you cannot change, have the courage to change the things you can, and have the wisdom to know the difference.
It's up to us to learn how to control ourselves – our thoughts which form our beliefs, our responses to circumstances in life, and leave what's out of our control out of our control. More on control in another episode too.
But for now, to what I was saying – I do believe our potential also comes from the thoughts that we can control within our minds. Our thoughts form our beliefs and our beliefs guide our every action. So if we develop positive thoughts to form healthy beliefs about ourselves, we are more likely to act in ways that permit progress in our own potential.
And when we act in ways that permit progress in our own potential, we create the space for endless possibilities.
Being an idealist isn't just about dreaming. It's about having vision and inspiring creativity, innovation and progress in all that we experience so we can expand what we think of our own potential.
