When we’re kids, we think we can do anything. Sky’s the limit. As we get older we realize that reality dictates differently. There are some things we thought we could do that we can’t. Flying by flapping our arms, for instance.
Putting on a cape and being a superhero may be one of the other things we might think we can’t do, but is that true? We might not be able to save the world, but I believe we limit ourselves to what we are conditioned to “know” of the world and how much we can change it. Sure, we may not be able to singlehandedly solve world hunger, but good deeds tend to roll downhill and gain momentum as they do. What we do today might have much farther-reaching effects than we can ever know. And if not, at least we tried.
It’s the same with personal goals. We humans tend to sabotage ourselves with our ideas that we can only go so far and do so much with our lives. I have a friend who was complaining (and with good reason) that he was stuck in a place of poverty, unable to fight his way out. Therefore, he is unhappy. I can fully understand that. Yet there are avenues – ones completely free of monetary cost – that he could pursue if he chooses to. I suppose that also depends on the depth of his unhappiness… I know what it is to feel completely unmotivated.
But I’ve learned one thing over the course of my life. The sky is the ceiling if you never go out. And the breadth of my imagination make the walls of my dreams. My belief that I can do just about anything I set out to do is only limited by my health and my ability to find ways around the barriers that inevitably come up. Yes, some barriers take years to navigate. But it’s only in those moments when I give up that the sky drops to eight feet above the floor.
… if this is what vertigo does to me, maybe it’s not such a bad thing …
This wildly philosophical post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link and join in today! https://lindaghill.com/2017/07/21/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-2217/
July 29, 2017 at 1:30 am
This really makes me think a little too deeply, so I’ll just say this; there are ways we trap ourselves mentally that cannot be undone by thought alone. Environment, community, media, what we are told day in, day out by our loved ones, friends, leaders, neighbors, televisions and celebrities has a huge impact and try as we might, shutting them out is not as simple as locking the front door and if we do, what else do we shut out and might we shut out ourselves defeating the purpose?
A wonderful intention, a wonderful post on a massively complicated subject.
Reminds me of a scene from All About My Mother where rosa is about to give birth to Esteban and she turns to Manuela and suggests they raise the baby together instead of with the original father who is dying of aids in Barcelona, she responds, “if only it were you and me in the world”
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July 29, 2017 at 2:02 pm
Indeed. I feel the effects of the goings-on in the world too, to the point of distraction. I have to keep reminding myself that as a writer, what I have to say matters. Why? Because if I can distract someone else from that which distracts me, even for a little while, I’ve done some good in the world.
I truly believe that wisdom sometimes means giving ourselves a break from thinking. And giving ourselves permission to escape the world is essential if we want to remain part of it.
Thanks for your insightful comment, Dan. 🙂
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July 23, 2017 at 4:33 pm
Wonderful read, Linda. Really well done and insightful!
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July 29, 2017 at 1:55 pm
Thanks, Joey. 🙂 Glad you liked it.
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July 23, 2017 at 8:45 am
This is very inspiring, Linda. We do set too many limits on ourselves and need to reach just that little bit further, then the sky’s the limit! 🙂
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July 29, 2017 at 1:54 pm
Thank you, Judy! 🙂
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July 23, 2017 at 1:11 am
I’ve had bouts of vertigo and it’s never enabled me to write anything as good as your post.
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July 29, 2017 at 1:53 pm
Thanks … and I’m sorry at the same time. Vertigo really does suck.
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July 22, 2017 at 11:50 pm
That last paragraph is poetry. Beautiful.
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July 29, 2017 at 1:52 pm
Thanks so much, JoAnna. 🙂
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July 22, 2017 at 6:33 pm
I think even small efforts to add positive things to the world are good. And good effort on your part in spite of having vertigo. 🙂
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July 22, 2017 at 10:36 pm
Thanks, Deborah. 🙂 I think so too.
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July 22, 2017 at 6:25 pm
Very nice bit of thinking, Linda.
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July 22, 2017 at 6:28 pm
Thank you, Dan. 🙂
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July 22, 2017 at 6:19 pm
Your wildly philosophical post is invigorating and inspiring. 😀
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July 22, 2017 at 6:20 pm
Thank you, Oneta. 🙂
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July 22, 2017 at 6:13 pm
It is indeed all in.our hands!!!
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July 22, 2017 at 6:18 pm
I believe it is, most of the time. 🙂
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July 22, 2017 at 6:19 pm
🙂
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July 22, 2017 at 6:12 pm
this is a great reality and showing values…
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July 22, 2017 at 6:18 pm
Thank you, Mihran. 🙂
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