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Possibility–it flies on mighty wings
When we don’t pay heed to the dance with uncertainty–when we limit the ambiguity, the floundering about, the experimentation–we deprive ourselves of the raw stuff of being fully alive.*
There is one kind of certainty that has to do with the predictable, inevitable, figure-out-able, having evidence. There’s another that’s brought forth not of circumstance and not of mind, not of prediction–but from taking a stand. This kind of certainty is based on questions rather than answers, on openness rather than resoluteness–there’s no dogma, no rules, no need for justification or explanation. This second kind of certainty exists in the realm of risk, of having something at stake. It’s that realm of risk and that kind of certainty where possibility comes alive and flourishes.
Whatever possibility is, it’s born from a continuous “I don’t know.” This is why I value that little phrase so highly. It’s small, but it flies on mighty wings. It expands our lives to include the spaces within us, as well as those outer expanses.**
In stepping outside of what we know, it’s possible to bring forth an entirely new possibility for living not because it’s better, but simply because it’s what human beings can do.
* Denise Shekerjian, Uncommon Genius
** Adapted from Wislawa Szymborska, Nobel Lecture
Nancy Zapolski
Landmark Forum leader
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