Possibility thinking can be a powerful, energising practice. It can also be a boon when times are tough and you are feeling stuck.
It’s a really simple practice, but it's not always easy. First of all, you need to take stock of what is happening, looking honestly and deeply at your current situation. Only when you are really aware of where you are can you meaningfully enable yourself to move somewhere else.
Then, ask yourself. From here, what is possible? If you’re someone who tends to think in really big chunks, you may need to chunk down and think small to start off with. The idea is not to dream about fantastic scenarios, it is to think from where you are about what is possible now. Noticing there are small decisions you can make and initial choices you can take can begin to build your sense of confidence in yourself, and also your sense of hope. Small step after small step, your possibilities will multiply and become bigger, and there will be more and more choice open to you.
If you’re struggling to identify possibilities, a useful exercise to help you along may be to spend a day writing down EVERY decision you make. What time to get up, what to wear, what to have for breakfast etc etc etc. You will probably notice you make a lot more decisions than you had realised, giving you many opportunities for doing things differently, many possibilities for small shifts.
In neuro-linguistic programming (NLP, my core therapeutic approach) we have a saying that ‘you move towards what you think about.’ It’s very helpful as a reminder that the unconscious mind is not great at processing negatives (to test this, please do not, under any circumstances, think of a pink elephant and see what happens), so what you think about is what you are likely to get, whether you want it or not! If you dwell in possibilities, you are inviting yourself to move towards them, it opens doors, and you don’t know what will happen as you choose which ones to walk through. That may be daunting, but remember, anxiety is very close energetically to excitement. How is it possible you might feel about change and the unknown?
For help in moving towards new possibilities, get in touch for short term psychotherapy that is tailored entirely to you, across the UK via Zoom or in person in #Darlington.
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