I was driving along in the car with my mom one day when somehow it came up in conversation that I believe in mermaids. My mom chuckled a little bit, rolled her eyes and kept driving. A few moments passed, and when I didn’t follow up my statement with any other thoughts that might prove my sanity, she looked at me a little funny and said, “Wait, are you serious? You seriously believe in mermaids?” I nodded my head matter-of-factly and continued that I also believe in fairies, sprites, unicorns…the whole lot of enchanted beings that have shown up over hundreds and hundreds of years through storytelling and folklore. She reminded me that I was 37 and, confused by my lack of logic, she asked me why. My answer was quite simple…why not?
This conversation has kept me thinking. Why is it acceptable to believe in some things that we haven’t seen, but ludicrous to believe in other things we haven’t seen? For example, we have been taught since childhood that all things are created from matter and that matter is created from even smaller particles known as quarks and leptons. Have you ever seen a quark? How about a lepton? Yeah, me neither. Okay…you may argue that these things have been proven scientifically, so I’ve got another one for you. Did you know that over 80% of the world has some sort of religious or spiritual affiliation, the majority of which believe in a God or Gods who have not been personally met, an afterlife that has yet to be experienced by those of us still living here in this plane and countless tales of miracles spanning centuries? Just based on statistics, that means that roughly 8 out of your 10 closest friends believe in something magical, incredible and unseen. You may even be one of them.
I’m not expecting you to lump your spiritual beliefs, scientific evidence of matter and the idea of fantastical creatures into the same boat. Obviously, they mean different things to different people and that is more than okay. What I am asking is if you can broaden your worldview enough for a brief moment to include the possibility of all of these things, whether you firmly believe in them or not. Our egos have a funny way of shutting down the things that we cannot understand, which is the root cause of so many conflicts within the world and even in our personal relationships. Ego causes us to set our jaw, draw back our shoulders and stand firm in the belief that our truth is the only truth, but how do we really know? How do we know what is possible, or even what is real? The fact is that we believe in things that are beyond our comprehension because they offer us hope, direction, and joy…and sometimes, just because we can feel it with all of our senses to be true. Consider a quiet moment sitting in nature, a peaceful meditation, the feeling of falling in love or of having your prayers answered…you can feel your connection to things unseen in those moments, even if you can’t see them with your physical eyes.
Our perception is the filter through which our entire life is colored. When we can take the time to see through brighter filters, so much possibility opens to us. We become less judgmental of others and more sensitive to the world around us. Magic seems to dance within us and we start to recognize that magic in others. We become freer and lighter, curious and delighted, knowing that there are surprises around each and every corner. It’s not about knowing for sure so much as it is about being sure that we don’t know it all yet and being okay with that.
What would it feel like to shed some of your doubt and step fully into an existence full of infinite possibility? Speaking from my own experience, I can say that stepping out of my cynicism and truly learning to embrace the unknown that surrounds me has given me a sense of peace, curiosity and wonder that I haven’t known since childhood. It’s allowed me to stop trying to be in control of everything, and instead learn to sit in the discomfort of not knowing with a deeper understanding that things always work out the way that they are meant to, even if I can’t quite comprehend why in the moment. It feels a bit like freedom from so much of the conditioning that I have picked up on my journey, and I’m okay with that.
I invite you to give it a shot yourself. What can you open up to? You might be amazed at how it shifts the way you see the world.
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Jillian Arena is a Certified Transitional Life Coach, RYT-200, and Reiki Practitioner. She uses her training in each to help her clients around the globe achieve maximum clarity, happiness, and possibility out of life! For more on working with Jillian, visit her website HERE. You can also sign up for her FREE 30-Days to Joy Challenge.
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