Hello Loyal Readers!
As you may have noticed, I have had a lull in my posts lately. This is not because I have forgotten you as much as it is that I have hit a form of writer's block, (blogger's block?!?), so I figured I would write about an idea that I had a while back that was quite interesting, (to me, anyways).
One of the things about coaching is that we often explore different perspectives; "What if this were different?", "What would that look like?", "How would that feel?", "How would you know a change had taken place?". These are common questions that a coach might ask you when exploring an area or aspect of your life. It is asking questions. It is asking questions that we wouldn't usually think to ask or just wouldn't come up with on our own.
Thinking about this, I realized that we really take many things for granted in this life. People have done this historically. We always take things at face value. The sun is a big ball of fire, because that is what it LOOKS like! The Earth is flat, because that is what it LOOKS like! The sky is blue because that is what it LOOKS like! The sun, moon and stars all revolve around the Earth because that is what it LOOKS like. Our planet is the only planet in the UNIVERSE that has life on it because we haven't SEEN IT anywhere else! (Some people claim to have, but that is another matter). These are things that someone decided was true and correct and everyone else went along with it and it became "fact".
Take our numeric system...PLEASE! Just kidding! But seriously, at some point, someone decided that we would only use 10 numbers in our numeric system, (0 through 9, and even then, it was a while before they created a value for zero). Why did they pick 10? Probably because that is the number of fingers we have! Really! Think about it! Why 10? Granted, it is not too much and it is not too little, so why not 8, or 12? Or 9 or 11, for that matter? They are all good numbers! Maybe it is because I am The Possibilities Coach, but I began to wonder what it would be like if there were only 8 or 9 or 11 or 12 numbers to our system. Remember, having 11 or 12 digits means we have to make up 1 or 2 new characters. Displaying all of the numbers could look like this: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, #, ^. The next number would be 10, so counting from 1 to 20 would look like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, #, ^, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 1#, 1^, 20. In this case, is 20 still 20? Yes and no. 20 is still 20, it is just a different 20. Same symbol, different amount. So 20 isn't really 20, it is just a symbol to represent an amount that we all agree is 20. Take that numerical set and start doing some simple math; addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It is a whole new picture now, isn't it? All because we made it LOOK different! Are the odd number still odd? Are the even numbers still even? What about the square roots? How do THEY change? How would this effect our monetary system? A dollar would have a lot more "cents", if not "sense"!
Now do the same thing, but make the numerical system smaller, Remove the 9, (counting would go 7, 8, 10, 11). Do the same type of math. Now take out the 8, (counting would be 6, 7, 10, 11). Run some more tests. What else do you see there? What else is happening? Many times, we live our lives based on rules we didn't create, inside parameters we never set, and we just accepted these things as so. Many times, we didn't even SEE these rules or parameters.
All of this is based on an ancient idea that we all buy in to. I am not saying it is bad, I am just saying look at the things you can see and create if you throw away the rules and look at reality in a totally different light. Granted, for all intents and purposes, please stick to the 10 digit world in regards to your finances. Your bank probably won't accept a deposit of 3# dollars!
My point is to start looking outside of the box and challenge and question everything. Not necessarily from an adversarial point of view, but from a perspective of curiosity. Enjoy the ride and go where it brings you.
Until next time, Remember, YOUR Possibilities are ENDLESS!
Tom Maher
The Possibilities Coach
Tom@epcoachtom.com
www.epcoachtom.com
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