Too many choices?

The third key is about infinite possibilities, but infinite can be overwhelming and scary. There have been many studies done on how too many choices can confuse us and lead to paralysis. This is a problem in today’s world where many, many choices are pushed in front of us everyday.

We humans also have a great deal of fear around change and choice. We are afraid of failure and afraid of success at the same time, therefore we stay stuck in situations that can be unhealthy, difficult or simply less than what we envisioned life would be. We settle. We choose the thing we know, over the unknown, daily.

Looking at infinite possibilities, in light of all this history and fear, can make you turn around and run. But for a moment, muster your courage and sit with the idea for a moment. Infinite Possibilities! Push the pause button on your fears and confusion and dream with me for a few moments.

Dream about the way life could be, the way you could be. Remember back to the idealistic notions you had as a child or the more sophisticated ideas of your young adult years. Allow yourself to imagine a world that is loving and kind, healthy and happy, abundant and equitable. See yourself in that world. See your spouse, your children, your whole family in that world. Think about the world you could create, the life you could live, the things you could change if you weren’t afraid of failing or succeeding. Imagine yourself brave and open to wonders and luck and health and magic. You don’t have to commit yourself this second, just imagine it.

Once you have allowed yourself to see images and ideas swirl around in your conscious mind, just for one more moment, imagine that you are walking and talking in those pictures, in those scenes, in that world. Are you frightened? Are you okay? Are you happy? Are you still you?

There are many unknowns in the world of infinite possibilities, but I would argue that the same unknowns lurk behind the façade of the “safe,” continuum you live in now. Change comes, no matter what. What that change looks like and how you deal with it is up to you. Trying to keep change and possibilities at bay in order to feel in control and safe is like trying to hold back the waves of the ocean with a small piece of wood. Better to jump on board and ride the waves.

Take time to image the possibilities. Those things you can imagine, it is in the imagining and then choosing and effort that you become the person you wish to be and create the world you want to live in. It is the effort, the decision; the commitment to try, that changes you and everything around you. This is a life of possibilities.

The nature of the universe is infinite possibilities. Align yourself with it, gather courage,  and make those choices that will put you on the path toward those dreams! Jump on top of that piece of wood and ride the wave of change in the direction you choose. There is a famous speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt that comes to mind:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."