I Is For Imagine

I Is For Imagine

Try to imagine what your life would be like if you could be whatever you wanted, do whatever you wanted, have whatever you wanted.

When we are children, unfettered by the limiting bounds of reality, we dream bold dreams of what we will be when we grow up. We imagine ourselves as great soldiers, as contented housewifes, as archeologists, as firemen, as President of the United States or King of the world.

We dream of doing great things: winning wars, raising happy children, discovering the mysteries of the past, saving lives, governing the nation or ruling the world.

We dream that we will have power, love, wealth, happiness, nice houses, fancy cars....

In the fertile imaginations of our childhood, we found hope.

But we're no longer children – and, in fact, childhood for most of us was less than idyllic – so what good did all that imagining do?

Consider this story:

Three pieces of string walk into a bar. The first piece of string orders the drinks and the barman says, "We don't serve strings in here." The second piece of string fails as dismally. The third piece ties himself up, fluffs out his ends and saunters up to the bar. "Three beers and make it snappy!" he shouts. The barman turns around and looks puzzled. "You're a string, aren't you?" he asks.
The string says, "No, I'm a frayed knot!"

Okay, that's an old joke. But it does make some important points.

(1) The third string was just like the other two until he used his imagination.
(2) He imagined that he was different, that he would be successful in ordering drinks.
(3) Because he was able to imagine that, his imagination changed his reality – not only did he imagine he was different, he made himself different
(4) When questioned by the barman – and threatened with the lack of success – he didn't identify himself with what he had been. He identified himself with what his imagination had made him.

Self-help guru Brian Tracy puts it this way:

"Everything you have in your life, you have attracted to yourself because of the way you think, because of the person that you are. You can change your life because you can change the way you think."

If that philosophy seems a little too New Age-y to you, consider this bit of wisdom from the Upandishads which may date as far back as the 5th century BCE:

“You are what your deepest desire is. As is your desire, so is your intention. As is your intention, so is your will. As is your will, so is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiny.”

Your deepest desire is what you imagine when you think about what you would like to be, what you would like to do, what you would like to have.

We could re-phrase that quote from the Upandishad this way:
You are what you imagine. As you imagine, so you intend. As you intend, so you will. As you will, you do.

Essentially, then, what you imagine is your destiny.

So, I'll ask you again, and please treat it as a serious question:

What would your life be like if you could be whatever you wanted, do whatever you wanted, have whatever you wanted.

Imagine it. Literally. Give that life you desire an image in your mind. Visualize it. And if you can't form a clear picture in your mind, don't worry. Your mind knows what you want. Name it and give it some specifics: “I want a Georgian mansion with white columns in front and a swimming pool in back. I want five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a formal dining room....” You get the idea.

Or you might even go further than that. Give it an image on paper. Create a Vision Board. Find pictures that resemble the house and the car and whatever else it is that you want. Cut the pictures out, paste them on a sheet of paper or cardboard, put it where you will see it several times a day and each time you see it, say to yourself: “This is what the future holds for me.”

Or you can create a vision video with images of the things that you want and upbeat music. Add some affirmations and play it every morning and night, telling yourself that these things are yours.

Leave room for the Universe to be even more generous than you can imagine; at the end of your visualization, somewhere on your Vision Board, or at the end of your movie, add this caveat: this, or something even better.

What possible difference is such daydreaming going to make, you might ask. It's a silly waste of time. It's impossible to change reality.

Walt Disney, a man who had a vivid imagination, said, “It's kind of fun to do the impossible.” And Les Brown, another self-help guru, tells us that “Most people in life fail, not because they aim too high (or imagine too much, I would add) and miss, but because they aim too low and hit.”