Every problem, every dilemma, and every dead end we face in life only appears insolvable inside a particular frame or point of view – our particular point of view. We can create a new and different point of view! This is possible!

Here's the second part of my previous blog post, Move Into Possibility where I wrote about moving out of the Measurement World into the Universe of Possibility. Here are bonafide examples of what happened to me when I opened to "It IS possible!" instead of "What are the chances?"

Here are the details of my possibility stories:

The Lost Kitchen, owned by Erin French is a world-famous restaurant in the boonies of Maine. Freedom, Maine. The only way to get a reservation is to submit a postcard. 20,000 a year are sent to the restaurant by people hoping to go. They choose only 1000 during a period from April 1 – May 15^th.

When I first heard the odds for making reservations, I immediately dismissed going.

It would be fruitless. I’ll never get in.

The restaurant opened in 2014. I read about the reservation lottery, and I reacted from a measurement universe mentality. Comparing, calculating, analyzing…logically – what are the chances?

Nineteen years later I had moved into the possibility universe. Hell, how hard can this be? Why not? I’m finding a postcard and sending it in.

My first step into possibility: I signed up for Erin’s newsletter.

Second step: I actually read the newsletter when it showed up in my inbox.

I saw that the timeframe for the receiving of postcards was open. I was in an entirely different frame of mind. Instead of difficulty and impossibility, I saw how easy it would be to send in a postcard. I thought, “Why not?”

I was seeing the challenge differently than I had in the past. Possibility.

My assumption changed to - there is a chance and it will take me a few minutes to do. It’s worth the effort. The clincher – I was open! Open to possibility!

Third step: I dug into my stationery stash, found an adorable postcard, filled it in, put a stamp on it and put it out in the mailbox for pickup.

It was three weeks later and I was sitting in our new, very chic, Italian bakery in Bath, Solo Pane, having coffee with a friend when my cell phone rang and Lost Kitchen appeared on the screen!  I hurried outside to take it and there was Connor on the other end telling me my postcard had been pulled!

Here was his follow-up email:

Hi Susanna,

We are thrilled to have pulled your postcard and look forward to welcoming you for a memorable dinner in Freedom!

 He was thrilled? I was beyond thrilled!

 BTW, it was wonderful. Fabulous. Well worth all the hype! Can I just say, “Lilac gelato…”

The Whale Story

Sometime in August we here in mid-coast Maine began hearing stories about a whale, a young, male humpback, in the Sheepscot River. It was on the news and a few people were commenting on Facebook. They reported that it even had come as far up the river as Wiscasset! That got my attention. Wiscasset is just up the road, just up the river from us. We live across from Montsweag Bay which is part of the Back River that flows into the Sheepscot.

But immediately I went to…you guessed it… to the Measurement World. I am learning more and more to navigate myself to the Possibility World. (You may have heard me talk about my Circle Power process which is all about helping us design and remember what we want – the outcomes we want – and keep our focus there.)

When I initially heard about the whale, I put the thought of seeing it aside. Although it has always been my desire to see one (trip to Hawaii – no sightings; trip to Alaska – many sightings; trip out of Boothbay Harbor, Maine – sightings from afar) I assumed it would be too difficult to take our boat out and be there when and if the whale surfaced.

My assumption proved so wrong. It was easy. (Why can’t I just think “it will be easy” right up front? Yes, I’m working on that Measurement World default.)

Then, about a week ago I was working in my garden and my husband found me to say that the neighbors across the street had invited us to go in their boat to try and see the whale.

“We’ll never see it,” he said assuredly “so I’m OK not to go.” (Yes, I must admit, he, at times, could be crowned, king of the measurement world!)

I thought, he is right... but then…I reset:

I’m going anyway. There’s always a chance. Even if I don’t see a whale, it will be a nice boatride.

“Oh, let’s go," I told him. "If there’s a chance to see a humpback up close – or even far way, I want to see it.”

The two of us, along with our daughter and granddaughter who were visiting, crossed the street and trudged down to the water with our life jackets. Stepping across seaweed brought in by the incoming high tide, we boarded Bob’s Boston Whaler and took off for the Sheepscot, following it seaward towards the Atlantic.

After about ten minutes we noticed a few boats clustered in a spot near the shore and thought maybe they were on to something. We had been advised to stay 200 feet from the whale if we happened to see it.  We are highly respectful of keeping our distance from wildlife in Maine. We decided to go up away from the boats and stop and turn off our motor.

Then we saw the humpback crest near those boats! Wow! We couldn’t believe it. We were negotiating around to get a better look – it was about 200 yards away from us. We were positioning our cameras, when there was a big “snort?” at the bow right in front of my husband and the whale rose - spouting! We all smelled the characteristic rotten egg breath. It was glorious.

My camera was all over the place. My video is very unfocused, but I caught the snort, the sound of the commotion and my husband’s exclamation “Thank you, Lord!” That’s the kind of moment it was. A miracle. The whale right in front of our boat! And he is far from a religious kind of guy.

Then the whale, our whale, continued out to sea in front of us, showing us his fluke once, twice, three times.

Religious or not – it was a spiritual experience.

And finally, can we give some attention to …

Finding Parking Spots

The Measurement World assumption is - don’t go to the front row in the lot. There will never be a spot. Possibility World – go to the front row because you never know.

You never know – so just try it – seems to be what I often say about parking spots. And often I find them.

 The Zanders (these two blogs were inspired by the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander. I write about this more in my previous blog.) invite us to ask these questions;

“What assumptions am I making, that I’m not aware I’m making, that gives me what I see?”

Your thoughts are creating your limits!

When you have an answer to that question, ask yourself this one: “What might I now invent, that I haven’t yet invented, that would give me other choices?”

I chose: 

Hell, how hard can this be? Why not? I’m finding a postcard and sending it in.

I’m going anyway. There’s always a chance. Even if I don’t see a whale, it will be a nice boat ride.

You never know – so just try it

Every problem, every dilemma, and every dead end we face in life only appears insolvable inside a particular frame or point of view – our particular point of view. We can create a new and different point of view! This is possible!

We live our lives according to assessments, standards, and comparisons in our pursuit of success. The hidden assumption is that life is about survival and competition for limited resources. In the World of Measurement, we’re always competing to get more than the rest, to be better, and to have more than those around us.

You can create a mental space where new ideas and possibilities are constantly being explored and developed. We can call this place “the universe of possibility.”

Try it, dear readers, reset those negative assumptions, and live in possibility! 

You never know…just try it!