One Choice Has Endless Adjacent Possibilities

​In his book "Win the Day", Mark Batterson introduced me to this idea of adjacent possibilities.

Batterson tells the story of Elisha Otis, who invented the safety device that is critical to today's elevators.

At the age of 40, back in the 1850s, while he was cleaning up a factory, Otis wondered how he could get all the old debris up to the upper levels of the factory. He had heard of hoisting platforms, but these often broke, and he was unwilling to take the risks. He and his sons designed their own "safety elevator" and tested it successfully.

This safety device would go on to make the elevators we use today possible. It would go on to make the tallest buildings in the world possible.

It's not often we look at a sky-scraper and realize that building would be impossible without the elevator.

But it's true. The sky-scraper became an adjacent possiblity because Otis and his sons were determined to figure out an easier way to clean up a factory.

When I read that story about Elisha Otis, I thought about running in my life.

Seven years ago, I went for a run to honor a local mom in my community who'd been hit and killed by a motorist while she was out running. I continued running to try to get a little fitness back in my life. And now, seven years later, when I look at the adjacent possibilities that have come to life because of one decision to go on one run - I sit here amazed.

I think of the relationships I've formed in my life - some of my most meaningful relationships have come about because of running.

I think of the places I've been that I never would have been to without running - Honduras and the Cayman Islands come to mind.

I think of my commitment to causes like Soles4Souls and The Run for Respect - commitments that have blessed me far more than I've been a blessing to them.

I think of interviews with other runners I've recorded and written about - runners who have overcome obstacles in their lives in ways that have inspired me and others to overcome ours.

I think about the physical limits I've pushed my body to in running. Limits I never even imagined were somewhere out there - let alone believed they could be reached.

When I think back at all that has come about in my life because I decided to go on one run. One. Single. Run. It leaves me wondering, what are the adjacent possibilities in this day. What one simple choice is in front of me this day that will open up a multitude of adjacent possibilities.

And you, what is one thing you will do today, maybe one thing you've hesitated to do because maybe the outcomes just haven't seemed big enough?

If you get to thinking that way, like - will this thing or this idea or this next choice really matter, think of a sky-scraper - a half mile high - and know that NEVER would have happened if a man and his sons hadn't tinkered with an idea that made it a little easier to clean up a factory they were working in.

The possibilities in life are endless; they are adjacent.

But they aren't a given. You have to take the first step.