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Do you have a good imagination? I once heard someone say, “There are people who cannot imagine a world they cannot see.” This struck me as tragic and I swore at that moment not to be one of those people. I realized that I have been imagining a world – my world since I was a tiny girl. I used to put myself to sleep at night by telling myself the story of my grown up life. I would picture it like a movie – the life I wanted to live and repeat it to myself night after night until I fell asleep. I realized recently that I still do this – but now I guess I consider it visualizing my future – imagining my ideal life as if I’m already living it and I find I don’t just do it as I fall asleep at night – it somehow has become a part of my waking life too – I picture my life as I wish for it to unfold and then I invite that life – those things – those people into my present. Sound too hokey for you?
How about this, if you could picture your perfect life, or your perfect body, what would it look like? Can you see it? Do you practice seeing it? I believe we can create the life we want to live. In fact, I believe we do create our lives moment by moment, hour by hour, and day by day. The question is, are you living the life you want or simply the life you created?
Let’s think about this a bit. It seems to me that we have more control over our lives than we sometimes believe. We make tiny, seemingly insignificant decisions every single day that impact us in huge ways. Everything we put in our bodies, every time we move, how we sit, when we go to sleep, how we speak to each other, what we put at the top and bottom of our priority list –all of these things create the life we are living. So doesn’t it make sense that with these same decisions we can create the life we want to live?
You may or may not believe in the power of positive thinking – you may or may not believe in visualization – but you can’t dispute that all of your conscious decisions have an end result that equates to your life.
Follow me for a minute here. Let’s say I eat a bag of chips every night before I go to bed. The result of that extra 1,200 or so calories each day will more than likely be weight gain. Added to that, eating greasy, salty food every night will more than likely result in waking puffy, lethargic and bloated. So my actions change not only my body, but my mood, the way I look and my ability to be active even before I gain the pounds. And all of this impacts how I feel about myself and that impacts how others respond to me.
Now let’s say I spend an hour outside five days a week doing some kind of cardiovascular activity – the result will not just be burning calories, strengthening my heart and building muscle – I’ll also improve my mood with an endorphin boost, be out in the fresh air and sunshine and encourage social interaction in my neighborhood. All of these things will improve how I look and feel and have an impact on all of my other activities and interactions throughout the day.
You see, I have control over deciding to cut out something not as important as my wellness to make sure I make time to work out. I have control over what I choose to put in my body. And finally, I have control over my thoughts. And that is huge. After all, isn’t perception reality? So if I believe something to be true – I’m making decisions (conscious and unconscious) to create that reality. If I believe something can happen – I make decisions that lead me towards making it happen. One good decision leads to another and I set myself up t be open to positive opportunities. I’m creating the life I want to live.
Now I’m not saying that we have control over everything in the universe – we don’t control earthquakes and hurricanes and bad things happen for no reason. We also don’t have control over anyone but ourselves and that means we sometimes have to deal with unpleasant people, made up drama and crimps in our plan. But even in those cases, we have the opportunity to make daily decisions that make those situations better or worse – that allow those things to interfere with the life we want to live or to let those things go and get back to creating a positive life for ourselves.
Now even if you believe none of that – you cannot argue that how you use your body, how you fuel your body and how much sleep you get to refresh your body all play off one another. Exercise and a good diet impact your sleep – a good diet and enough sleep impact your ability to perform physically – and exercise and sleep impact the decisions you make about what you eat (and what you crave).
I’m not saying that I can change my 4’11” frame into that of a six foot tall model’s, but within the limits of my structure, I can build the body I want. And for those of you who insist you have no willpower and that you can’t help but eat off your kids plates or dive into the bag of chips or cookies in the pantry late at night – I have news for you – you are an adult and you don’t have to have those things in your house! You are in control. And then, you are not only creating the life you want to live – but you are impacting in every way possible the life your family lives too.
None of us are going to be on track every minute of every day of our lives. We sometimes let a bad mood, a series of mishaps, or a misstep throw us off our game. The trick is to wake up each morning and again, imagine a world you cannot see and work to create the life you want to live. The funny thing is that if you practice this day after day – one day you wake up living that life – having that healthy body – and in the process all kinds of great things you couldn’t possibly imagine have already become part of your reality.
So I’ll ask again – do you have a good imagination?