contrast

i read a news article today with a surprisingly astute admonishment and it got me thinking...  the statement followed a woody allen quote as a total non-sequitur and i paused a solid thirty seconds trying to marry the two passages with the topic of the article.  by the time i determined the allen quote was the one to be discarded, the other, somewhat obvious, reminder had resonated with me.  

...In life, what matters most isn't how a decision compares to your ideal outcome.  It's how it compares to the alternative at hand.  

i think the reason it struck me is because i so often get stuck in that cycle.  the one in which i'm contemplating my options versus an ideal that i have created entirely in fantasy, complete with bells and whistles and dancing monkeys too.  as if my choice is this or that, with the that being something i had hoped for and fully believed possible, oftentimes despite reality.   but perhaps what i should really be considering is this or not this.  

and though i feel myself bristle at the idea of not this and observe the adrenaline of oh no! then what? rise within me, i am pushing back on that reaction.  or perhaps, pushing through.  i am choosing to honor then what?  as an invitation to possibility.  and in fact, it is the only position in which i could be open to possibility.

some spiritual teachers refer to the not this as contrast.  i like that.  contrast strikes a positive chord within me as it is defining, rather than limiting.  it is clarity, rather than ambiguity.  it reassures me rather than scaring the shit out of me.

contrast.  not this.  possibility.
yes.

d:  possibilities beyond my wildest dreams
b:  not this teeth and claws removed, welcome mat laid down instead
g:  a poor editorial decision that stopped me in my tracks