Opening Doors

Anicca, or the law of impermanence, tells us that nothing remains the same.  Everything is constantly changing.  You can’t step into the same river twice.  This is the very core of Buddhist belief.  To "see things as they really are" means, seeing them consistently in the light of three characteristics:

• Impermanence or Change (anicca)
• The Existence of Suffering or Unsatisfactoriness (dukkha)
• Not-self or Insubstantiality (anattaa)
  

Ignorance or self-deception of these three principles is cause for suffering, frustration, disappointment, and despair. Two old Brazilian sayings told to me growing up; “Life is relentless” and “everything is as it should be.”  So why, if we instinctively know this, why do we cause ourselves to suffer over change?  How can we turn change into the art of possibility and opening doors?  They say that when one door closes, another opens.  What about opening many doors at once and creating possibilities?  They are already out there in the quantum field around you.  Why not open your mind?

The Zander’s wrote a marvelous book in 2000 called, The Art of Possibility.  They called it ‘a book of practices.’  I like that.  It fits in with the concept of a daily practice and resonates mindfulness. After reading the book, I bought several copies and handed it out to my supervisors and leaders at work; the ones that I really cared about and wanted their success.  I wanted them to gain the insight of these practices and hoped to influence them to adopt them in our environment.  I don’t know if that was successful, but I was opening a door and that is always good. Today, I’m sharing the first principle.

"It's all invented anyway"

As my dad says, “All the gifts have already been given.”  We just have to open up to receive them.  So if we invent, create our stories then why not invent a story of meaning that enhances our quality of life and the life of those around us. Our thoughts, the framework our minds, create, define and bind us to what we perceive to be possible. Every problem, every dilemma, every dead end we find ourselves facing in life, only appears insurmountable, frightening, and maybe paralyzing inside that same point of view and framework that we create for ourselves. 

“You must get out of your cubicle to get out of the box.”   Ask for someone else’s perspective to help you see the doors or the change you face from a different angle.  A wise friend of mine provided me with this advice.  My story was that I felt like management at the time was trying to force me into a box to be someone I wasn’t and that was something untenable to me.  So, I shared this and asked, “What do I do?”  His response was, “Be the box, Maysa.  Be the box.”   What a marvelous way to reframe the situation.  You can’t be in the box, if you are the box.   

Win – win for all.

Watch the assumptions you make.  You might not even be conscious of them. Be mindful of what you create in your thoughts.  Your mind creates your reality.  What might I now create today? What haven't yet created that would give me other choices?  What possibilities lie ahead? I watched Gravity last night and what a powerful message about moving through suffering and loss, opening up and embracing acceptance and rebirth.  “You have to learn to let go” in order to embrace the new. Accept the possibilities.