Alice laughed: “There’s no use trying,” she said; “one can’t believe impossible things.”
“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
I read this wonderful quote from Alice in Wonderland other day as I stood looking through some cards in the shop where I work and it started a train of thoughts.
Funny isn’t it the restrictions we place on ourselves. The limits we place on what we believe is possible. Imagine a small child pulling themselves up from sitting for the very first time. They wobble and plop back down onto their padded bottom. Imagine if they gave up there and then because it looked too hard. Walking was for some but not for them…….
Imagine we believed everything everyone told us. When I was 12 years old my English teacher humiliated me in front of the class and told me I had no imagination. I could not write. I believed her and 4 years later proved her right by failing my ‘O’ level in English Language. So now here I am 32 years on writing – admittedly it’s neither Proust nor Jane Austen but it is writing and writing that seems to strike a chord with some of my friends. I chose to lay that particular ghost to rest and follow my gut to do something that I thought for many years was impossible.
For years I was unhappy in my marriage and in my life generally, I never believed for one moment that I had a choice. After a lot of soul searching alone and with a few close friends, one day I grabbed my courage in both hands and leapt off the cliff and found I did have wings (metaphorically of course!). Yes, it takes courage and more courage than most of us believe we have inside of us.
What are our children currently believing is impossible for them, especially at this fraught exam time? How many times have you heard them start a sentence with ‘I’ll never be able to ……..’? Believing that anything is possible is what will propel them forward.
- What beliefs are holding you back from living your best possible life?
- What self imposed limits have you placed on your life?
- Do you feel too old to go for a career change?
- Is there a job you’d love to do but just don’t feel you’d have the capability?
- What are the ‘impossible’ things that you’d secretly love to believe possible?
- Is it too late to start a new relationship?
- Are you too cynical to believe you can fall in love again?
Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit light a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it….. wilfred peterson
Photo by Jacqueline
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