Unlimited
I love Yogi tea. For one thing, they have interesting names and claims compared to other brands. I'm drawn to things that stand out like that. But the main thing that makes me choose a Yogi tea over another brand is the little sayings that are attached to the tea bags. It's like a fortune cookie. I have a habit of ripping them off and hanging onto them. The other day, my tea bag fortune read, "You are unlimited."
Boy did that one stop me in my tracks. I have a tendency to operate with the exact opposite understanding. I see my limits everywhere. A part of me dreams big and fully expects to do exciting things. But the other part of me is doing this big dreaming from the couch while binge-watching shows on Netflix. On my smart days, it's easy to see how ridiculous it is for me to get frustrated with my life when I'm living in a world where I only act within limits.
For example, I limit when I get around to starting the day because I NEED to sit and drink my entire French press of coffee, while watching tv, before I can manage the energy to begin activity.
I limit my physical exercise by considering that it will have to be followed by a shower, then drying my hair, then styling my hair, then doing makeup, then deciding what to wear. If I take too long, I'll never get away from the house because I'm working within the limits of how far I have to drive and how long I'll want to be anywhere before coming back home again.
I limit my ambition by considering first the amount of money it might cost, whether I really have time for it (there's a lot of stuff on Netflix, you know), what other people will think about it, how much energy it will require, and how much rejection is likely to come along with it.
I limit my relationships with other people by dwelling on what went wrong with completely different people in completely different situations in the complete past.
I live in self-imagined limits without thinking about it. So seeing this tiny little square of paper telling me that, in fact, the exact opposite is true was a little unnerving. I literally stopped making my tea and stared at this paper.
And smiled. And took a deep breath. I am unlimited. Duh. It's my brain that's had it all wrong. But since I'm unlimited, I can absolutely begin to think about things in a different way. I don't have to be limited by the way I've done things in the past. One of the books I'm reading for a class mentioned the saying, "It's easier to act ourselves into a new way of thinking than to think ourselves into a new way of acting." I'm curious if we can do both. Wouldn't that, perhaps, be even more efficient? I recognize that I do have a tendency to stay in my head about things. I get all fired up mentally, but then I don't manage to make the transition. So maybe there's a point in just getting out of my head and into the action.
Anyway, I'd love to know your thoughts on this one.
Boy did that one stop me in my tracks. I have a tendency to operate with the exact opposite understanding. I see my limits everywhere. A part of me dreams big and fully expects to do exciting things. But the other part of me is doing this big dreaming from the couch while binge-watching shows on Netflix. On my smart days, it's easy to see how ridiculous it is for me to get frustrated with my life when I'm living in a world where I only act within limits.
For example, I limit when I get around to starting the day because I NEED to sit and drink my entire French press of coffee, while watching tv, before I can manage the energy to begin activity.
I limit my physical exercise by considering that it will have to be followed by a shower, then drying my hair, then styling my hair, then doing makeup, then deciding what to wear. If I take too long, I'll never get away from the house because I'm working within the limits of how far I have to drive and how long I'll want to be anywhere before coming back home again.
I limit my ambition by considering first the amount of money it might cost, whether I really have time for it (there's a lot of stuff on Netflix, you know), what other people will think about it, how much energy it will require, and how much rejection is likely to come along with it.
I limit my relationships with other people by dwelling on what went wrong with completely different people in completely different situations in the complete past.
I live in self-imagined limits without thinking about it. So seeing this tiny little square of paper telling me that, in fact, the exact opposite is true was a little unnerving. I literally stopped making my tea and stared at this paper.
And smiled. And took a deep breath. I am unlimited. Duh. It's my brain that's had it all wrong. But since I'm unlimited, I can absolutely begin to think about things in a different way. I don't have to be limited by the way I've done things in the past. One of the books I'm reading for a class mentioned the saying, "It's easier to act ourselves into a new way of thinking than to think ourselves into a new way of acting." I'm curious if we can do both. Wouldn't that, perhaps, be even more efficient? I recognize that I do have a tendency to stay in my head about things. I get all fired up mentally, but then I don't manage to make the transition. So maybe there's a point in just getting out of my head and into the action.
Anyway, I'd love to know your thoughts on this one.
I liked your honesty (which is typical of you) and the enthusiasm you feel about risk. Often I seem to run into the limits of other people and systems. And I have to back up and find new pathways for my own "unlimitedness." Cheering you on and look forward to a blog soon describing some adventure in this vein.
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