Such great, practical advice from Stephen R. Covey! And, although we all understand this conceptually…how often do we find ourselves beating up our past self for something that occurred in our history?…That loop can get REAL, real quick! Especially if you have a tragic past…
Because, the fact is: Physical and emotional traumas can scar us, and also leave our futures feeling pretty bleak. BUT, what ends up happening is we CONTINUE PICKING at that scar – which then of course makes it worse! So – while we may have terrible scars and we can’t deny that – that does not mean we need to continually open up that scar, and intentionally pour hot sauce on our wounds! EVEN IF you like it spicy – you know that shiz ain’t right!
Another fact? The past HAPPENED. It exists. It IS FACT. But…where does it live, you ask? That’s a great point, and glad you brought it up! The past exists IN THE PAST. And, your future? Your future doesn’t even exist yet. Which means: all we have is the PRESENT moment…(AKA) the greatest gift of all!
So – if all we have is this moment – we can choose to live it out, and also whether we transport ourselves forwards or backwards in the next. But, if we put ourselves into a loop of fear and anxiety for the future – what ends up happening is that we MANIFEST this fear (whether we like it or not) because it’s all we can think about! And…you know that old saying about thoughts...what we THINK about, we BRING about!
One of the most beautiful things about this quote is the implication that we get the CHOICE of what we want to live out of. We can choose to be grateful and live out of the gift of our present imagination, OR we can beat ourselves up living out of our history.
And, for those that think it’s impossible to imagine a future because their past is just SO DARK – we hope to draw strength and inspiration from those who’ve lived through it. We look to those like Vikter Frankel or Anne Frank, who survived one of the most tragic times in history: The Halocaust. For their PRESENT reality was terrible, but they STILL had hope – CHOSE not to live off their present reality – and instead lived in their imagination, in order to dream of a better future…ALL BECAUSE the imagined light of their future, was bright enough to block out the reality of darkness.
Stories like those of Vikter and Anne show that even in the worst of PRESENCE – you can still live out your imagination, through faith and hope. SO – no matter how dire our current surroundings or situations seem, we invite you to remember this choice…and (if by chance you still end up in the loop of fear and despair) we hope you CHOOSE to shift your thoughts into imagining some incredible, exotic future that you’re excited to live out!
Looking for a little support with your imagination station? We’re here to help! Take a quick listen to today’s episode right here!
