Imaginary: existing only in the imagination or fancy; not real; fancied
The ability to create entire worlds using only the faculties of our mind is what separates us from the animals.
We are creators, made to conceive worlds of design and invention. To create is essential to our existence, and what we create is the offspring of our nature. From this intrinsic character, we have harnessed electricity, taken flight, broken architectural limits, cured diseases, and even landed a rover on mars (not to mention the countless other advances). Our desire to fabricate our own existence differentiates us from nearly all other creatures...It is the purpose of our being.
We create jobs, relationships, entertainment, technology, sales, opportunities, and homes. We forge society, and classifications. We produce standards, rules and statutes. But what if we do not?
FLOODGATE:
What happens, then, when we do not intentionally employ this fundamental attribute of our existence? The short answer is, we have to. Being stuck in a job, relationship or situation that does not allow for creative outlet is like a dam holding in our need to produce; When there is no outlet, the dam gives way to release the pressure. This rupture in our imagination-holding-tank spews forth frustrations and confusion and we begin to create scenarios, and situations of the worst kind. This became clear to me, personally, with my once unreasonable fear of winter driving. Afraid to go out driving on a winter day, I would choose to miss a meeting or change my plans in order to avoid a potentially bad road. I had never been afraid of driving in the snow in my younger years, so I began to examine what had happened that brought me to that place. There were only a few minor incidents that could have played a part in my unreasonable fear. A few icy roads, and near-ditch-experiences, and one car flipping in front of me moment, but nothing personally. So why was I afraid? I soon realized that I would feel the most fear before a trip, or when I was not in control and another was driving. I had the solitude of mind at those moments to envision horrible outcomes. I began to create scenarios in my mind, witnessed worlds replete with roll-over accidents, and head on collisions. I tortured myself with images of pain and death. In my created world, I lived out terrible circumstances, even to the point of having physiological reactions (headaches and nausea). I was creating my own world of unreasonable fear, and it was dark...much darker than reality. In essence, the floodgate on my imagination pool had given way. Once I realized that I was creating this world, I was able to manipulate it accordingly. Recognizing when my visualizations were only that, I began to redirect them or stop them altogether. While I prefer to drive in fair weather, I am finally capable of facing winter roads.
Once we harness the floodgate, and start using our imagination for the good, we begin to create worlds for ourselves that are much more disposed to contentment rather than fear.
In his blog article, “The Dark Side of Imagination” Srinivas Rao says;
“If we start to examine our lives, we’ll start to notice patterns of this behavior throughout our lives. If you have trust issues, you will imagine somebody cheating on your over and over and eventually you’ll destroy the relationship. If you have self-esteem issues then you will imagine that people are saying all of the worst things about you, when for all you know they may be talking about how cool you are. If you find almost any limiting beliefs, then most of those will enable you to imagine some of the worst things.” 1.
Limiting beliefs are precisely what hold us back. If someone believes that they “suck” at their job, they begin to imagine being fired. They perceive their relationships with their co-workers and employers as being strained, and then begin to act out. Assuming that others are thinking the worst, they begin to have imaginary dialogues which invoke an emotional and physiological response. They become defensive and abrasive, treating peers like they are “out-to-get-them”. This imagined world begins to permeate the real world; Relationships are strained, words are said and mistakes are made. Ultimately this person has manifested a reality from their imagination.
How many jobs are quit or lost from this? How many marriages are shattered? How many people hurt? This is why it is essential that we harness and channel our imaginations! Like building muscle, exercise is the key to tuning our creativity.
LIMITING BELIEFS:
How do we whip our creative minds into shape? My wife and I decided to try CrossFit for the first time this year. We did a six week foundations class three nights a week, discovering something that we had yet to discover. The class was grueling, and our physical abilities were very limited. One of the work outs that we did was called “Fight Gone Bad”, which consisted of several reps of some very unpleasant exercises. From the beginning it felt as though we could not do it, but the “fight” part is entirely against ourselves. Both my wife and I, comparing notes afterward, had the same internal dialogue of limiting belief, we both had to fight hard to overcome our self-doubt in order to finish the fight!
The first step to tuning our creativity has to be recognizing our limiting beliefs. As long as we believe that we are not good enough, not strong enough, not smart enough, we will not be any of that. Eric Thomas 2., The Hip Hop Preacher addresses this on his YouTube Video shouting out “I CAN, I WILL, I MUST!” Saying words like “I hate winter driving” or “I suck at my job” or “I’m terrible at math” or “I wish I was a better husband/mother/friend/worker/person” are all limiting beliefs. As soon as we voice them, we somehow make them real, we excuse ourselves from improving, and we block the pressure relief valve for our creativity. STOP IT!
OWNING THE IMAGINARY:
The second step to tuning our creativity is to address the imaginary worlds and dialogues that we have created. Admitting that my fear of winter driving was imaginary was necessary to grow past it.
The jealous husband has to acknowledge the scenarios in his mind where his wife has feelings for another man is not real. He has to stop imagining the worst possibilities, and stop torturing himself with the emotional repercussions of living through it over and over again. He has to stop before he manifests it as reality.
The insecure employee has to acquiesce to their belief that they are bad at their job. They have to stop imagining that their co-workers are against them and that their job is at stake. They have to do this before they manifest it as reality.
As humans with an incredible ability to create, harnessing that ability is of paramount importance. The best part is that we can do this immediately. In six short weeks of crossfit my wife and I have seen some incredible changes, physically, emotionally and psychologically. This short time has made it clear that we are capable of anything we put our minds to. It started with a simple decision, and has lead us to a place of sincere excitement. When it comes to our imaginations, deciding to harness and direct our internal world will directly affect our external lives. What we imagine we manifest!
We are creators, so let’s create! Let’s decide to believe that we can do anything we put our minds to. Let’s acknowledge that our imagination has sometimes spilled over into reality in some great and some not-so-great ways. And let’s own the imaginary to manifest the reality!
1. http://theskooloflife.com/wordpress/the-dark-side-of-imagination/
2. http://etinspires.com/
