Merry Christmas from Peter and Cathie …

See you in 2010 …

Never give up on yourself or your dreams

It’s never too late in life to be what you might have been

- George Elliot

As we conclude these series of posts for the acronym LIFESTYLE it is important to remember that discovering your purpose is a process and not a problem to be solved in a few days. It is a learning process much like the process of learning to walk and eat. We didn’t learn to walk without first learning to shuffle on our bottom and crawl, and we didn’t learn to eat adult food without first experiencing baby milk and strained baby foods. And the same is true of discovering your purpose. You can decide to use everything that has happened to you up to this moment as a meaningful learning experience, and an opportunity to give back to others who may also be undergoing similar challenges in life.

Nothing inspires us more than hearing a story about someone, who in the face of great personal suffering, looks life ‘squarely in the eye’ and discovers a new purpose in life. People like Victor Frankl, Dick & Rick Hoyt and Nick VuJicic who’s stories are shared in the first post MINDSET.

- Yet as Terry Fox reminds us in the post EXPECT ADVERSITY,

You don’t have to do like I did – wait until you lose a leg or get some awful disease – before you can take the time to find out what kind of stuff you’re made of. Start now. Anybody can.

However, in the absence of such a crisis or wake-up call, we have to develop our own sense of urgency. For many people reading this blog, their basic survival needs are met and there is a tendency to drift into that dangerous place called ‘the comfort zone’. Without a burning need or burning desire to do ‘whatever it takes’ to change our lives, we think we are immortal and have all the time in the world to achieve our personal success story.

We seem unable to hear the sound of life’s clock ticking by and continually put things off until tomorrow. The problem is that when tomorrow comes it is called today, and another 24 hours of lost opportunities have passed us by.

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever

- Ghandi

This famous quote is a timely reminder to live our life on purpose. Time is the great equaliser of all mankind and takes both the young and old without regard for either. Time is precious and we need to instil a sense of urgency into our daily actions if we are not to repeat the wasted weeks, months and years that have gone before.

There resides deep within each of us this innate desire to add value, meaning and contribution to other peoples’ lives and until we make peace with our purpose, we will never experience fulfilment in our work or be content with what we have.

Exercise 9

Make the decision right now to live your life on purpose. Choose one action you can take in the next 24 hours to make this decision real for you. If you haven’t completed the Exercises for the acronym LIFESTYLE, your first action can be the completion of Exercise 1. Then choose a new action you can take each day. Even smiling at a stranger will make more of a difference right now than contemplating a worthy cause such as ending world poverty, if only because you’re doing it right now and it’s happening in this moment.

Another immediate action step you can take is to share the essence of each post for MAGNETIC LIFESTYLE with at least one other person, because when you teach what you are learning to others, you internalise it at a much deeper level.

Inspirational Books

You can also read inspirational books to see how people just like you have achieved extraordinary results by connecting to their purpose. For example, Empowered which you can obtain direct from Peter by emailing him … peter@magneticlifestyle.com

Your ultimate objective is to get to the point where all your choices and decisions are based on your deepest values and what is most important to YOU, rather than on what society deems ‘acceptable’ or ‘right’. It is about aligning your passion, gifts and experiences with the needs of others so that you can live a fulfilled, joyous and abundant life based on contribution and service.

It is about understanding the rules of the game called life. In particular, that everything you experience in your physical reality is first created mentally, either consciously or unconsciously, in your imagination. Imagination is the gift that enables you to picture in your mind’s eye a future state more compelling, fulfilling and joyous than your present circumstances indicate. And when you hold on to this vision so vividly that it feels more real than what you observe around you with your physical eyes, the universe conspires to support you. Understand this more in the post IMAGINATION

So if you’re ready to give yourself the ‘Ultimate Gift’, proven strategies that will massively improve the quality of your life, read these posts regularly and carry out the Action steps and Exercises suggested.

Better still, teach the material to others and give them the opportunity to live their lives with passion, joy and fulfilment.

And finally…. remember you are not travelling your journey alone.

- In the words of Patanjali

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be

This is the conclusion of the 17 Steps to a MAGNETIC LIFESTYLE. More posts will be added soon to help you build your FIELD OF DREAMS. We’ve some exciting things in store … SO COME BACK SOON …

Love is the overflowing of love within yourself 

Fear knocked at the door. Love answered and no one was there.

- Old English Proverb

According to A Course in Miracles, there are only two basic emotions: love and fear. And fear cannot survive in the presence of love. So what is love? We have been conditioned to believe that love is a commodity, a thing, something we need to get and if someone gives us love, then we have love to give others. But if we don’t find people to give us love, then our lives are empty and devoid of meaning.

But love is a verb. It’s a process. Love is expressing it, doing it. Love is not an object or a thing to get, but the releasing of the love that is already within us. In the post GUIDE TO WHO YOU ARE we shared that we are a spiritual being created in ‘the image and likeness’ of our Creator. But this becomes little more than a cliché unless we personalise it and understand exactly what this means.

Our Creator, God, Spirit or whatever name you prefer is love and because we are created in the image and likeness of our Creator, we are love. Love is our true nature and the very root of our being and is expressed in and through each of us as our loving heart. Our need therefore is not to get love, but to touch the deep spring of love which is forever flowing to and through us.

To love another person is to acknowledge the deep reservoir of love within yourself, and from this consciousness, see the divine flow within the other person. This is what the term Namaskar (sometimes called Namaste) means. It is the divinity within you saluting the divinity within another. You see the person as they truly are – perfect in potential, but not yet perfected – rather than through surface appearances.

Missing the point

We miss the point if we think of love as a commodity or something that is given or exchanged. There is no strain or drain in loving. It is not something we have and give to another so we have less and they have more. If a person feels a sense of strain or drain, it’s because they are out of tune with their own inner flow and they are not really loving but judging. They’re saying this person does not really deserve love, but I’ll love them anyway.

One of the difficulties we have is that we take things personally. If someone does something we don’t like, we say he or she has done it to ‘me’. The word ‘me’ is the fish hook that hangs us up. The question is not “Why did they do it to me” but “Why did they do it?’ And they did it because of where they are in consciousness.

Nothing other people do is because of You. It is because of themselves. What they do, what they say and their opinions, even if it is focused on you directly, is always about them, about how they see the world based on their own belief system and programming. Taking everything personally means accepting other people’s emotional garbage as your own.

As discussed in the post IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT we all see the world differently and it is this understanding that enables us to not take things personally. In fact to think other people’s behaviour and attitude is all because of ‘me’ implies self- importance and ego. For further insights on not taking things personally you may wish to read Terry Cole-Whittaker’s excellently titled book What you think of me is none of my business and Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements.

The need is never to straighten other people out, but to straighten ourselves out in terms of our own level of consciousness. It’s not a matter of setting things right, but seeing them rightly – through eyes of love.

Exercise 8

To practice seeing with eyes of love is probably the most challenging of all the exercises so far and you may wish to try it first in an impersonal way. For example, when you are sitting in a subway or on a bus or train with people sitting opposite you, select a person it would be the most difficult to salute the divinity within. Close your eyes and focus gently on your breathing. Imagine being filled up to overflowing with the constant flow of divine love and feel the warmth of compassion within every cell of your body. From this elevated consciousness, open your eyes and see this person with eyes of love and compassion. You may want to say a silent Namaskar.

Practice this and when you feel you’re beginning to get adept at it, begin the practice with family members or people you work with. Remember, look beyond any behaviour, attitudes or limitations which may be causing you problems and see these people as they truly are – perfect in potential, but not yet perfected.

And what you will discover is that your own level of consciousness and attitudes will change and the more you are able to look out into the world through eyes of love, the more the things you look at will change.

Next post  … EMPOWERED

John Winston Lennon (1940 – 1980)

Twenty-nine years ago today, on 8th December 1980 we heard the devastating news that John Lennon, one of the brilliantly gifted singer/songwriter’s from the famous Beatle’s had been shot dead by Mark Chapman.

IMAGINE was John Lennon‘s second solo album and is considered the most popular of his solo works. Recorded and released in 1971.

We would like to share this very poignant song with you today and we hope, like us, that you spread his message for PEACE IN THE WORLD …

John Lennon had amazing inner vision and if you haven’t already, you may want to read the post … IMAGINATION

Don’t die with your music still in you

If you knew who walked beside you at all times, you could never experience fear again

- Course in Miracles

Perhaps the greatest insight we can have as we seek to bring meaning and purpose to our life is to know that we are not travelling our journey alone. In the same way a wave is always connected to and not separate from the ocean, we are always connected to and not separate from our Creator.

It is not easy in our human level of consciousness to think of ourselves as ‘spiritual beings’ and similarly, it may not be easy for people to think they can help and inspire others when they feel lost and afraid themselves. And if it was left to our own human efforts this would be right. But when we re-connect to our spiritual essence, our true nature, we play by a different set of rules. These rules fly in the face of reason and logic as illustrated in the story of the frail old lady lifting a car off her dying son in the post CHANGE BEGINS WITH YOU.

We connect to a divine power or spiritual intelligence that knows no limits. This intelligence is operating in every moment of our lives, but because it functions automatically, we take it for granted.

For example:

• This intelligence keeps your heart beating more than 100,000 times a day or 40 million times a year without any conscious effort on your part.
• It organises the pumping of 2 gallons of blood per minute through a system of vascular channels about 60,000 miles in length, or twice the circumference of the earth.
• In the second it takes you to inhale, you lose 3 million red blood cells, but in the next second, the same number is replaced.
• Every second, around 100,000 chemical reactions take place in each one of the estimated 100 trillion cells that make up the human body.
• Moreover, each cell knows what every other cell is doing so as to enable the body to live, breathe and function properly.

Imagine for a moment the intelligence required to co-ordinate 100,000 x 100,000 billion chemical reactions every second. It is beyond human comprehension, particularly when you consider the challenges humans have in balancing their cheque books or remembering more than a few items on their shopping list!

However, perhaps the greatest example of this infinite intelligence is that it knows how to take a one-celled fertilized ovum, and with only fifty replications, produce an astonishing one hundred thousand billion (or 100 trillion) specialised cells which make up the human body. Scientists still have no idea how this one cell ends up dividing into the 250 different types of cells we have in our body or how the cells are then able to organise themselves into a stomach, a brain, a liver, a kidney, skin, teeth and all the other highly specialised parts of the body.

YOU are part of this intelligence system and when you re-connect to it through Silence, the whole of Infinite Mind (all wisdom) is available to you and conspires to help you discover and live your life on purpose. This is how powerful you really are.

Exercise 7

Find a place, ideally in nature, where you can sit quietly and listen to your heart. Pay attention to your feelings. Although your present work may look right, does it feel right? Does it inspire you? Do you feel passionate about it? If your left, logical thinking part of your brain begins to rationalise (rational–lies) your answers, take a few deep breaths and get back to noticing your feelings.

Trust that the intelligence that supports and orchestrates everything in the universe with exquisite precision, will guide and support you in discovering your purpose. It is an inside-out process that requires deep introspection and reflection. It is not a problem to be solved in a single day. Write down your unique gifts and talents and list those areas of work which particularly inspire and excite you.

Become more aware of this infinite intelligence that has been lovingly taking care of your every breath since birth, maintaining the exact amount of oxygen required. Even as you are reading this blog, it is effortlessly sustaining all your bodily functions without any conscious effort on your part. Observe this intelligence in nature as it silently transforms the acorn into the giant oak tree and the caterpillar to the butterfly. Observe how a flock of birds, continually change direction in perfect harmony without ever once bumping into each other!

If music inspires you, listen to the song  ‘YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE’  by Gerry and the Pacemakers and let it be a reminder of your eternal connectedness to this intelligence.

The next post ... L O V E

Life responds to seed, not need

You have to sow before you can reap. You have to give before you can get

- Robert Collier

The law of giving and receiving is simple and known to all. It is more commonly expressed as:

• You get what you give
• What goes around comes around
• As you sow, so shall you reap

The law is very specific regarding sequence:

• You give and then you receive.
• You become and then you attract.
• You grow personally and then you advance materially.

Yet despite the familiarity of this law, many people still have the sequence reversed. They say “When I receive, then I will give”, “When I have enough money, then I will give to others”. But the law is clear. In order to receive more, you must first be willing to give and contribute more. And in order to contribute more, you must first become more, and you become more by expanding your own consciousness and finding new and creative ways to offer value and service to others. It is an inside-out process and this is why the first series of posts for the acronym MAGNETIC included:

MINDSET

GUIDE TO WHO YOU ARE

THE LAW OF VIBRATION AND ATTRACTION and

CHANGE BEGINS WITH YOU

Nothing could be fairer than a law which states that the universe will respond to everyone with the same energy that they send out. If you send out a “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” energy, you will attract back similar demanding energies. This may be in the form of a demanding boss, challenging clients, or pressure from overdue deadlines. Alternatively, if you send out love, kindness and respect, the universe will respond by sending back to you the essence of similar ‘good feeling’ energies.

Put simply, you give, then you receive

But you can’t give what you don’t have. This may seem an obvious statement but it is worth considering further. For example, if you want to give someone a book, or flowers or money, you must first be in possession of what you want to give. The same principle applies in respect of our emotions. If we want to extend more love, kindness and forgiveness to people, we must first have a plentiful supply of love, kindness and forgiveness for ourselves. We can’t give what we don’t have.

Another example is if you find yourself responding to personal criticism with anger, hatred or bitterness, it’s because these qualities are already inside you. You have a red light on the panel and as long as you hold those negative energies, you will attract more of the same back to you.

The following analogy may help. If you squeeze an orange, orange juice always comes out because that is what is inside. This is true no matter who does the squeezing, the location of the squeezing, when they do the squeezing or the circumstances surrounding the squeezing. What comes out is what’s inside, and the same principle applies to you. If someone squeezes you or puts pressure on you, or insults you and out of you comes anger, hatred, bitterness or revenge, it is because these traits are already inside you.

There are not many people who genuinely respond to personal criticism with love and forgiveness. But if you want to live in harmony with natural laws and principles, this is the price you have to pay. Of course, you also pay a heavy price for holding on to all the negative energies and attracting more of them back into your life.

So if you want to live your life on purpose through contribution and service you may first wish to carry out a personal inventory to see what emotions you have inside you and which you will draw from to give away.

Exercise 6

Write a list of the type of qualities you would like to ‘give away’ to support, help and make a difference in the lives of others. What steps will you take to go the ‘extra mile’ to build up your own personal inventory of these qualities?

For example, if you want to give more love and compassion to those who feel alone and unloved, what can you do to build up an abundant supply of love and compassion in your own life? You can read GUIDE TO WHO YOU ARE to remind yourself that you are, first and foremost, a spiritual being created in the image and likeness of your Creator. The spiritual part of your personality, sometimes referred to as your Higher Self, is the part of you that is perfect and loves you unconditionally.

When you love another person, it is because you have sensed that feeling of love within yourself, and your love for that other person arises out of the over-flow of love you have for yourself. This is discussed more fully in the post LOVE.

Spend time each day in silence to imagine this universal flow of unconditional love and compassion rushing, streaming and pouring into you from all sides as you sit quietly. Imagine this flow filling you up to overflowing and from this place of overflowing you extend this unconditional love and compassion to all those who feel alone and unloved.

You may also wish to read the earlier post IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT to re-mind yourself how our unwanted behaviour is driven by our belief system which we did not consciously choose. And that when we know better, we have the opportunity to do better.

The next post … YOU\’LL NEVER WALK ALONE

Speech is silver;  silence is golden

All man’s miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone.

- Blaise Pascal

Our ability to sit quietly in a room alone, as Pascal observes, is the cause of much suffering. We live in a busy world constantly bombarded with loud noises. The television or radio has to be on and any pause in conversation is hurriedly filled with more chatter. But observe nature. Trees, plants and grass grow in silence. Clouds move across the sky effortlessly and in silence. Yet for many people, silence is embarrassing, awkward and uncomfortable.

In the post GUIDE TO WHO YOU ARE we shared Judge Troward’s Unity principle which basically states that wherever Spirit is, the whole of Spirit must be because Spirit is wholeness. And because Spirit is omnipresent, which means there is no place it is not, the whole of Spirit must be present in it’s entirety at every point in space at the same time. You are a spiritual being. This means that the whole of Infinite Mind (all wisdom) is present in its entirety at the point of your Mind. Expressed more succinctly, all the answers, guidance, wisdom you will ever need is present within you right now, and all you have to do is access it through silence.

The word silence has been used in this post in preference to the term meditation. For many people, the term meditation raises too many questions. “Which meditation technique is best for me?”, “Is my posture correct?” “Should I be listening to music or have a specific mantra and if so, which music or mantra should I use?”

The word silence doesn’t engage the thinking mind. It doesn’t imply a technique or having to do anything. We are prolific doers and if we use the term meditation, instantly there is a desire to do the right meditation technique, to get the right teacher, to adopt the right posture, and to meditate properly. But as the great yoga master remarked “It is not necessary to tell anyone how to meditate. If he is sincere enough and open enough he will find the way.”

So please adopt whichever practice feels right for you. If you do not regularly meditate, the practice of silence may be easier for you. If you have a meditation practice that helps you, please continue.

The Psalm “Be still, and know that I am God” requires just that. No doing. Just sitting quietly and allowing your incessant thinking mind to quieten and achieve Oneness with Spirit. You don’t have to do anything because Spirit (non-physical) is forever seeking to express its’ wholeness of wisdom, love, peace, joy and abundance, through its physical polar opposite, which is You.

You just have to be still and silent long enough to allow the answers to come through your consciousness in the form of intuition, gut feelings and an absolute knowing that this is the right course of action to take.

There is an ancient Chinese saying -

If a man be absolutely quiet then the heavenly heart will manifest itself.

But it is not easy to be completely quiet because in this state of silence there is no pressure to achieve anything. This goes completely against our normal programming and conditioning. Our left logical brain shouts “Surely, I must have to do something”. No, you don’t. You just have to sit still and in the silence the answers will be found.

Exercise 5

Sitting in silence requires practice and discipline because it is not something we are accustomed to. In silence you do not do or say anything. You just sit still, relax and be receptive. You are like a battery being recharged. A battery just sits, accepts and does nothing. Think of yourself as a battery.
In the beginning, your thoughts will try to convince you that this practice is a waste of time, and that there are more productive things you should be doing. Other unrelated thoughts will also keep popping in and out of your mind. Just sit still and become an observer to all this mental chatter.

How long should you sit in silence?

There is no ‘right’ time. At first you may want to do just a few minutes a day, but as you practice regularly you may find up to 10 or 15 minutes is about right. It may be best not to sit too long because your consciousness will begin to stray. Even being stationary in a traffic jam or at a red light provides the opportunity for a few moments of silence. And don’t worry, the driver behind will always ‘hit his horn’ when it’s time to go! Just sit quietly and pay attention to your in and out breaths as a way to tune into the silence.

In the physical realm, we experience the duality of up and down, hot and cold and light and dark and all the gradations in between. In the absolute realm of Spirit there is just Oneness. Silence is your gateway to tune into this Oneness because there’s only one silence. There are no gradations in silence. If you cut silence in half, you get more silence.

The practice of silence allows you to experience your Oneness with Spirit, rather than just know about it intellectually. And when you experience this Oneness, you will want to make this practice an integral part of daily life.

The next post … THE LAW OF GIVING AND RECEIVING

A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner

If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and when it comes, hold your head high, look it squarely in the eye, and say, “I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me”

– Ann Landers

When adversity occurs, as it most surely will, be grateful for it. Human character is formed not in the absence of adversity, but in our response to it. Nothing inspires and uplifts the human spirit more than hearing a story about someone, who in the face of great personal suffering and tragic circumstances, looks life ‘squarely in the eye’ and discovers a new purpose in life.

One person who did exactly this was Terry Fox. Terry discovered his new purpose early in life. Two days after his eighteenth birthday, he learned he had a cancerous tumour in his right knee and his right leg was amputated. You can see his remarkable story at the link below:

And Terry’s message that you don’t have to wait for a crisis before you discover your purpose is so pertinent to this blog.

Terry says - 

You don’t have to do like I did – wait until you lose a leg or get some awful disease – before you can take the time to find out what kind of stuff you’re made of. Start now. Anybody can.

Terry identified what he deeply cared about and discovered a new sense of purpose. His achievements have left a lasting legacy and have challenged all of us to ask the question “How can we use our own life experiences to contribute and make a difference in the world?”

• So what are your unique gifts and talents?
• What are your life experiences?
• What adversities have you overcome or are currently experiencing that make you uniquely qualified to help other people who may be facing similar challenges?

The key to acting on purpose is to align your natural gifts and experiences with the needs of others.

Exercise 4

The following exercise should be carried out when you are alone and free from interruptions. You will need a pen and paper.

Close you eyes and take a few deep breaths. Bring to mind some of your more challenging life experiences and ask yourself “Is it likely other people may be experiencing similar challenges?” For example, I asked myself if other people may be in jobs they don’t enjoy and whether sharing my experiences of meeting successful entrepreneurs who live and follow their passion every day, would be helpful? I concluded “Yes, it would” and this is the reason for writing this blog and my books.

• What lessons did you learn from your challenging experiences?
• What would you do different now? Write down all your thoughts on paper.
• What about your unique gifts and talents?
• What do people compliment you on?
• What is it that you do effortlessly and enjoy, that other people find difficult?

Because it is easy for you does not mean it is easy for everyone. Do you like working with young children, teenagers, young adults or the elderly? Are you passionate about helping the more vulnerable in society?
Think deeply and creatively because when you align your gifts and experiences with the needs of others, there is a service to be provided and a living to be made.

The next post … SILENCE

If your life is your message, what would it say?

How different our lives are when we really know what is deeply important to us, and, keeping that picture in mind, we manage ourselves each day to be and to know what really matters most.

- Stephen Covey

In the post IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT we learnt how our belief system acts as a filter or lens through which we see the world and that we don’t see the world as it truly is, but as we have been conditioned to see it based on our beliefs.

It follows therefore that if we are to work in harmony with the natural laws and principles which govern this universe so we can live a fulfilling and happy life, we must first ensure our belief system accurately reflects the laws and principles to which we wish to align ourselves.

In the same way there are universal laws such as gravity operating in the physical world, there are universal laws and principles operating in the non-physical or mental world which are just as real, absolute and consistent. Understanding these natural laws and principles which govern human effectiveness is a prerequisite to living a life of meaning, contribution and fulfilment.

These principles or natural laws are unarguable and self-evident and form an integral part of human consciousness. They include, for example, the principles of fairness, integrity, honesty, trust, service, contribution, human dignity, respect, love, responsibility, compassion, courage, potential, excellence, loyalty, democracy and empowerment.

When our core values align with these principles or natural laws, and become the guiding force for our every day choices, we are playing by life’s ‘rules’ and the game takes on new meaning and vibrancy.

Exercise 3

When you know your core values, you gain clarity about who you are, what you stand for and what is important to you. This helps you make better choices about where you spend your time and who you spend it with. When you align your core values with natural laws and principles, you do more of the ‘right’ things and you become more effective both in your personal and business life.

So what are your core values and how do you identify them?

In order to assist you in this process, a checklist of values has already been prepared for you.

Download your PERSONAL CORE VALUE checklist here
        

The list is not intended to be exhaustive, but will enable you to make an immediate start. Please feel free to include any additional values that are important to you.

Using the checklist, underline 20 words that describe what’s important to you at this moment. Then circle 10 words from the underlined list that are really important to you. From your circled words, put a star next to the five which you value most. These represent your core values.

Much of the frustration and anxiety we experience is when we are engaged in work which is not congruent with our core values. Core values are like a moral compass by which we wish to navigate through life. They reflect what is most important to us and drive our choices, behaviour and attitude. The more closely our core values align with reality (natural laws and principles) the easier and more fulfilling life becomes.

When Ghandi was asked by a reporter whether he had any message for his people he replied “My life is my message”. What a brilliant response. If your life is your message, what would it currently say? Is it a message of missed opportunities, regrets or broken promises? Is it a message of victimhood, or blaming others? Or is it a message of hope, empowerment and inspiration?

The power of this exercise is that it presents you with an opportunity to create a message of exactly what you want your life to say, based on what is most important to you.

Following on in the next post  … EXPECT ADVERSITY

Imagination is the beginning of all creation

Some men see things as they are, and say, Why?  I dream of things that never were, and say, Why not?

- George Bernard Shaw

Perhaps one of the greatest gifts we have been given is the ability to imagine or picture in our mind’s eye a future state better and more fulfilling than our present circumstances indicate. This may be why Albert Einstein stated imagination was “more important than knowledge”. Or why, Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, described imagination as “the most marvellous, miraculous, inconceivably powerful force the world has ever known”.

It was the use of imagination that inspired Victor Frankl to find purpose and meaning amidst the horrendous circumstances he faced as one of the millions of Jews imprisoned in the death camps of Nazi Germany during World War 2. Despite being tortured and suffering every form of human degradation possible, Frankl used his imagination to picture himself in different circumstances, sharing his experiences with his students after his release from the prison camps. His story is shared in the post MINDSET.

It is through this same gift of imagination that you can create purpose and meaning to your life by visualising how your unique gifts and talents can contribute to the needs of the world. This is not fantasy or wishful thinking but an understanding that all things are created twice: first, a mental creation; second, a physical creation. For further information about the creation process, read the earlier posts for the acronym MAGNETIC.

Exercise 2

The following exercise should be carried out when you are alone and free from interruptions. You will need a pen and paper.

Visualise or imagine in your mind’s eye attending the funeral  (or if you prefer, the ‘celebration of life’) of a loved one. Picture yourself driving to the venue, parking the car and walking in to the building where the funeral is taking place. On entering the chapel or funeral parlour, you immediately sense the ‘loving’ energy of the room. As you quietly observe the many faces in the room, you intuitively feel that each shares a sense of sorrow for the passing of someone who has deeply touched their lives.

Soft organ music is playing in the background and flowers, rich in scent and colour, beautifully decorate the room. A family member waves you to a seat they have reserved for you and passes you a program. As you look on the front page of the program, you see your name and picture. It is YOUR funeral and the date is three years from today. All these people have come to celebrate your life and show their deep feelings of love and appreciation for you

You open the program and notice there are four speakers. The first speaker represents both your immediate and extended family. The second speaker is a very close and trusted friend who has known you for many years. The third speaker is from your work or profession. And the fourth speaker is from your church or local community.

Now think very deeply. What would you like each of these speakers to say about you and your life? What kind of husband, wife, father, mother, son or daughter would you like to have been? What specific character traits would you like each speaker to mention? What contributions and achievements would you like them to recall? As you look at the people in attendance, what difference would you like to have made in their lives? What legacy would you like to leave for future generations?

Write down in detail exactly what you would like each speaker to say about you. The purpose of this exercise is to get absolute clarity on what is most important to You and let this picture guide your daily choices and behaviour. It is all too easy to get caught up in the busy-ness of life doing what we think is right, only to find that when we arrive, life is empty and bereft of meaning. By beginning each day with your ‘end picture’ in mind, you ensure your daily activities contribute to your overall vision for your life and focus on what is most important to you.

In the next post … FIND YOUR CORE VALUES