Another year rolls in, and with it a barrage of commercials promoting the latest diet programs! New Years is the customary time to reflect and adjust…but for those of us calibrating life, this is a regular habit throughout the year…right?! 🙂 Along with the diet programs, you will be inundated with self-help advice in the area of achieving the “good life”, “fulfillment”…and the good old standby: “success”.
Be honest now…we are not so stupid as to belief that simply thinking about something will make it happen. As much as I enjoyed playing baseball (a true lifeline as a kid)…I can think I will pitch in the major leagues of baseball all I want…it is not going to happen! This is not just due to my age…it was not going to happen when I was younger either!
Most often inserted somewhere in the list of self-help advice is the concept of “visualization” (remember “The Secret”). While I do not have a problem with the concept of visualization, I do have a slightly different angle on it from most of what I hear. In area of positive thinking, I think people tend to oversimplify. We don’t make everything happen that we want to have happen in our life simply by focusing positively on it. The power of positive thinking does not direct or instruct the world around us. However…it does open us up to what may be an opportunity, and places us in the proper posture to realize the opportunity as it presents.
For greater clarity…
A poor use of visualization: Record a soundtrack of your own voice affirming the vision you want. “My name is (insert yours here), I own a 5000 sq ft home with a 5 car garage. I drive a (insert car of preference) during the week, and a (insert exotic car of preference) on the weekends…yada, yada, yada. Play the recording as you sleep…right.
A better use of visualization: I am a valid human being, full of potential and promise. As an independent artist (my spin) I am my own genre. I am created for good, and I can have a positive impact on all who enter my sphere of influence. I see myself being patient with others, kind, caring and being genuinely interested in them. I see them becoming encouraged as they interact with me…and I am at peace in these interactions…I embrace curiosity, and I am open to a bright future, releasing the limiting fears of my wrong belief…and so on…
Is the visualization worthy of our attention? Is it all about me/you? If so, be careful, for the greatest fulfillment does not come from getting all we want; it is more rewarding to give than to receive. We need to be careful to choose wisely in what we visualize, for we create expectation and therefore also a gap between our vision and our reality…an opportunity for dissonance.
“As a (person) thinks in their heart they become”, and “without hope (vision) the people perish”…there are many sound proverbs to be found such as these. What we visualize, our vision, is extremely important. It is the direction we choose to travel…let it be worthy of our effort and fulfilling for our life.
Find the balance here…let us be open to all that our life has been created for; all that we may become…curious, purposeful, and without limiting beliefs…and at the same time content with all that we are.
