The Sky’s Not The Limit - Grasshopper

I can’t remember when I first heard it or who said it, but someone said, “There’s no such thing as the sky.”

What they meant was there was no physical sky – just air – all the way to “out there.” Out there being outer space.

Until I heard that, I always thought of the sky as a thing, but it’s not.

That got me to wondering about limitations, and how we put them on ourselves. And then we have some well meaning person come along and say, “The sky’s the limit,” which is intended to motivate us that there’s lots of room for improvement. But, even that “Successories” poster phrase implies that you can only go so far.

Allow me to muse for a moment. How do I limit myself? Let me count the ways.

This isn’t a “you can do anything you put your mind to” lecture, because there are lots of things we can’t do. For example, I’m not sure you’ll be invited to be a performer with the Bolshoi Ballet if you just started taking dance lessons at age 60. Or an NBA superstar at age 50. Let’s call those “Reality limitations.”

But what about the limitations that aren’t reality based? Here’s a rule of thumb: If someone else, who was once in your shoes did it, you can do it too.

But, no matter how smart you are, your intellect won’t get you past your self-imposed limitations. Once we learn to get our logical thinker out of the way, even for a little bit, that’s when limitations start to melt and fade away and options appear.

If some mind quieting practice isn’t part of your life, your life will be limited – limited by the conditioning you’ve accumulated your entire life. “That’s for other people, not for me” or “I could never accomplish what they did.” These are the phrases of the self limiter.

But just avoiding saying the phrases won’t get you where you want to go either. That’s just another intellectual exercise that won’t produce the muscle needed for your lift.

Visiting the frame of mind where the intellect is not present is your saving grace. It will take you into outer space where the sky’s not the limit.

All the best,
John