Possibilities

When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: You haven’t. 

-Thomas Edison

If, for a moment (or longer), we believe in matter over mind, then we are likely to believe that situations are too big, too small, or just right for us. Typically, this mindset severely limits our engagement. We tend to devote relatively low effort to activities we believe are too challenging or too boring for us. Further, if we believe in matter over mind, we believe our engagement is an effect of the outside world, so why give an effort to change what we are experiencing if we believe we are being controlled by something outside of us?

In contrast, when we understand that we live mind over matter, that the boring, daunting, or just right challenges in front of us are creations of our own minds, we gain freedom and possibility. In a mind over matter understanding, it is quite possible to be aware that if we aren’t controlled by the outside, then our thoughts and feelings of boredom and challenge are self-created. This can be the impetus for awakening to the idea that change is only a thought away, and with this understanding, we can begin to see what we can do to engage in the present moment.

Thus, attributes such as grit and perseverance are states that flow from the mind over matter understanding. Over time, as we persist with the understanding that nothing is too big or boring for us and attack life with the effort that flows from it, we appear to have grit and toughness.

The key understanding is this: The mindsets that create grit and toughness are available to us frequently if we understand that we live mind over matter. The more we believe we are bound by matter or matters, the more will will see limits in our lives, the more likely we are to quit. At these times, it pays to remember and believe Edison’s words: When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: You haven’t.

Mind over matter results in moments of clarity, freedom, and perhaps most importantly, possibility. When these moments are strung together, they appear as grit, perseverance, toughness, tenacity. Be awake to possibilities. They are endless.