Without Limits

I stumbled upon a quote recently that my mind has turned over and over, fascinated by its implications.  It is this:  "The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible."  by Arthur C. Clarke

How many of us spend most of our lives safely tucked within the limits of the possible?  We have a pretty good idea of what we can expect from ourselves and from the people around us.  We drift along with the current of the possible, vaguely satisfied with life, vaguely satisfied with the status quo.  Drifting, drifting, staying within the safe waters.

Perhaps I use the pronoun "we" too casually.  Maybe "I" is more accurate.  Hopefully "you" are pushing the limits, stretching your capacities to grow and learn and achieve, while I, alone, am the only one who has been drifting.  Perhaps I, alone, am not living up to the full measure of my creation; that gifts and talents have lain dormant, not being fully realized nor fully utilized.

But sometimes in life, the impossible becomes the just getting by.  I will be honest.  Right now, I seem to have so much on my plate that is requiring me to dig a little deeper to find that wellspring of hope and energy and accomplishment.  I am being pushed to my limits, and am found wanting.

I have felt abandoned by my blog muse.  Usually the ideas for blogposts come with very little effort.  In fact, I usually feel like they have a soul of their own and I am only the facilitator with the fingers to keyboard them into life.  I have become self-conscious that my recent blogs have started to take on a "woe is me" attitude.  Yuck.  I can't stand that.  I want my blog to be uplifting, to be smile-inducing, not a place where you walk away feeling sorry for me, or feeling sorry for yourself for having checked in.

Life is discovery.  Every day we should be discovering something fresh and new.  Even amid the chaos and trials, we should always be uncovering something that was hidden.  Maybe it was hidden by laziness, or by complacency.  Or maybe it was hidden by a life that was too easy, or too leisurely, or too "perfect." 

I hope that I have the wisdom to recognize this important time of discovery in my life.  It would be so easy to just set my blog aside because of caution to share the hard stuff along with the effortless.  But that would be a road block to discovering the real limits of the possible.  So I invite you to join me as I venture into the impossible.  I can't promise that it will always be roses, but I can promise it will always be honest.