If I told you I’ve seen a man run on water… would you believe me? Or that I know someone who cured herself of an incurable cancer - without the use of modern medicine? How about if I told you I had a money tree growing in my back yard?
I’m certainly not going to tell you you should believe everything you hear. But what I would like for you to look at, is how quickly you may disbelieve what you hear. My intention is that encourage you to suspend your disbelief long enough to consider the possibilities. The ‘What if’ of an idea or situation. What would is mean if you were to believe?
Back in the late 1400s, it was common practice to navigate the seas by following the shoreline. Christopher Columbus, believing that he could reach East Indies, lobbied the Spanish courts for 2 YEARS and eventually was supported, in sailing perpendicular to the shoreline, straight out into the sea. Now, although, he was mistaken and didn’t in fact reach the Indies – he still made a huge discovery that greatly impacted the world. He dismissed the mainstream practices, took a risk and achieved something incredible as a result.
When tossing around the idea that people could fly, the Wright Brothers encountered wide spread disbelief. But instead of buying into the cynics and critics, they dismissed the popular notion that it wasn’t possible, and explored the POSSIBILITY. Yet again, our world looks much different today because of their courage and willingness to believe in something other than what was commonly accepted as true.
Both Columbus and the Wright brothers are amazing examples of people who didn’t buy into a popular disbelief of the people around them. They tried something different and change the world as a result. I think it’s fair to say that they strongly believed in what they were pursuing and followed their passion. While most of us have very strong belief systems in various areas in our lives, I’d like to challenge you… not based on what you do believe, but on what you don’t. Because despite the examples of Columbus and Wright brothers, I believe that the biggest disbelievers we need to face up to… is ourselves.
Consider for a moment:
- What would it mean if you believed that Jesus was a man who performed miracles?
- What would it mean if you believed human beings evolve from apes?
- What would it mean if you believed you could change the world?
- What would it mean if you to believe in angels, an afterlife or reincarnation?
- What would it mean if you believed every compliment you received?
- What would it mean if you were to believe that everything in your life happened for a reason, there are no coincidences and that you are exactly where you are meant to be?
- What would it mean if you believed you could be a millionaire?
- What would it mean if you believed your love makes a difference? That smiling at strangers brightens their day?
- What would it mean if you believed you are good enough, exactly the way you are?
While considering these questions, if you feel hope, peace, joy, or even a little bit curious – then I hope you are open to allowing those thoughts and feelings. If you feel fear, anger or guilt – I’d like to also encourage you to allow those feelings, but perhaps be willing to explore them a little bit deeper to understand why you feel the way you do. I typically feel the former of these two. The more I recognized what could be possible, especially when it’s something I’ve previously discounted, I feel a real sense of awe and can receive all sorts of value from allowing myself to explore new ideas. Now when I hear myself saying ‘that’s not possible’ I do my best to flip it, get curious and ask myself “what if it were possible?”
I encourage you start listening in to where your own DISBELIEF SYSTEM shows up. What does it hold you back from? Listen for that voice that tells you it’s not possible or that you can’t, and allow yourself to consider… ‘What if it IS possible?’ or ‘What if you CAN?”. Like Columbus and the Wright brothers, perhaps it’s time to push past those limiting beliefs, whether it be your own disbelief, or others. And the truth is, in order to suspend your disbelief, you don’t need to fully believe in a new possibility. In fact you don’t really need to believe in it at all. All you need is a moment of time where you suspend your disbelief long enough to consider what it would mean, if you did believe.
