A Whole New World

I spent the weekend at a workshop that opened a new door for me with regard to changing what I believe is possible. It’s really so funny how we make assumptions that don’t have to be true. What I learned was that even though I am open to shifting my beliefs and limitations, and I do it on a regular basis, I am still living in a box of sorts.

The key to the weekend was pretending. Remember when you were a child and you could pretend anything? You didn’t have all of the restrictions that said “well, that would be good, but it’s not really possible” – you were UNLIMITED!

I will never forget the first time I watched my stepson play a driving video game. He was around 9 or 10. When I played the game, I was all about keeping the car on the road and not running into anything. When he played, he wanted to see what would happen if he ran the car into the building or into a tree or through a lake. The funny thing about it was that the video game was actually designed to reward you if you did some of those “off the wall” things. You got a shortcut by running into the building, extra points for driving in the lake, etc. It was my first view of how much the box made of rules was keeping me from exploring my true potential.

It reminds me of the huge life lesson I learned from Benjamin:

To beat the other guy in the video game, I didn’t have to fight him, I just went around him.

When we allow the rules that we have accepted as true to limit us, we are limiting our potential, our joy, our creativity, and our very life. Isn’t it time to take a look at what rules are running you? After the weekend, I’m re-visiting what’s around me.

Of course, some of the rules may still be important to you. You don’t have to change anything you don’t want to change, but it might be good to have an understanding of what’s there. If you don’t know how to look at what rules are keeping you in place, simply pretend that you know, and go from there.