What's Next?

There is no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.  

- Benjamin Zander 

"In every experience there is possibility," says Benjamin Zander conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and co-author of the Art of Possibility. He claims that possible means what you can achieve. It goes beyond positive thinking and hope.

Positive thinkers do not want to deal with the negative. Hope comes from not being able to deal with the present. Possibiities provide options and choices.

"Possibility is a domain. It is about one choice to be in the present and . . ." Zander claims.

Zander feels human beings need a dimension beyond their immediate needs for health and well-being.  He believes when something happens to us we should not judge it and say it's good or bad.  We should learn to say, "It's too early to judge. What's next?"

If we tell stories that enhance life and lives of the people around us we enrich possibilities. A man interviewed about the tsunami that hit Japan stood in the midst of devastation of his home. He had lost everything. At his feet a green plant pushed up through the rubble. Smiling for the camera he claimed the shoot of green grew to get to the sun through the broken pieces.

That reveals possibility.

"I think of intelligent optimism as a discipline, to stay in the state of mind of possibility," Zander says.

Everyone's mind needs sustenance. Thoughts of possibility provide it. We live in the unexpected; a creative realm and place of imagination. A focus on the present and what's next maintains balance.

Creative Write:  Write with a What's Next? attitude. Delve into possibilities in each moment.