L iving the life imagined. What thoughts or images come to mind as you consider this? Do you see images of more money, a nicer house, better relationships, improved health, your dream job?
As you allow these images and thoughts to flow through your mind do you readily accept them or are they met with, well, that would be nice but…..?
There is a paradox to “living the life imagined” that I want to bring to your attention. When we think of living the life imagined, most, if not all of us, immediately go to that, incredible, wonderful life with everything we desire being fully lived and experienced. Right, well of course we do. Why would we imagine a life full of challenges, difficulties and suffering? So where’s the paradox? The paradox is this, “the life we are living is the life imagined” otherwise we would not be living it.
The life we live is the life we imagined, otherwise it wouldn't be~ Jim Phillips Click To Tweet
Consider this for a moment. How much time and energy is spent on imagining a wonderful life? On occasion maybe, perhaps when you are a little down and need to get away. Or when you see something or have a particular experience that feels really good. Maybe when you see someone else living life in a particular way and you wonder what it might feel like to live as that person lives.
Now consider how much time you spend imagining the challenges, worries and concerns of life. How much time do you spend on what might happen that is not a pleasant experience? How often do you catch yourself in fearful thought? Don’t get me wrong I’m not suggesting you have these thoughts intentionally it is just where thoughts go when unattended.
When we imagine life and its challenges we think not only that it is possible but it is inevitable. We actually feel the fear, sadness, angst of that experience even though the event has yet to take place. We also create the same experience when we think of past events. We bring forward our feelings of that past experience as though it were happening now.
If we are capable of creating a present moment experience that is not occurring in the moment, yet has all of the physical aspects of it being a present moment experience, why not take advantage of our gift of imagination and create the life we truly desire?
I find it intriguing that we don’t readily see and accept the truth that life is a reflection of our thoughts and beliefs about life. If a person’s thoughts dwell mostly on what is difficult about their life, their life experience will reflect these thoughts. They will draw to themselves opportunities to reinforce their belief that life is difficult. If however they spend their thinking moments on the goodness of life they will draw to themselves opportunities that reinforce the truth that life is good and offers everything required to live the life of their choosing.
My intention isn’t to imply that one’s life will be free of challenges. Life is full of challenges (opportunities) that are created for our personal expansion and understanding of SELF. The point is that it is we who are in charge of how we think, act and subsequently experience life.
How different would your life experience be if you consciously spent time imagining the life experience you truly desired with all of its attendant feelings? Consider that when we allow ourselves to imagine life in a better way, truly as we desire it to be, we only allow ourselves to think about it for a brief period of time.
And when we do imagine this better life we quickly default to a thought that this would be nice but it isn’t something that can or will happen for me. Instead of feeling the joy and happiness of that imagined life we feel sadness and are resigned to the fact that it can’t be. For some reason we don’t even consider that it might be possible. Why is this?
Are we unable to imagine what might be because we have imagined what can't be? ~ Jim Phillips Click To Tweet
When I suggest imagining the life experience as you would like it, I am not suggesting you just think about it, I am suggesting you think from it. How does one think from an imagined experience? This is done by placing oneself in the midst of the experience, feeling it, seeing it, experiencing all that it is within your imagination as if it already is.
We already know we can experience the fear, sadness and stress associated with imagining those things happening at some point in the future even though the actual event has yet to take place. Yet we don’t allow that same experience when it pertains to the goodness that life has to offer. We don’t allow ourselves to feel, really feel and experience the joy, happiness and fulfillment that is ours in any moment of our choosing.
As an example; on a regular basis I place myself in the midst of my successful coaching practice. I feel the satisfaction of knowing how someone has benefitted from our work together. I feel the sense of joy I experience doing something I love to do and for which I get paid quite well. I feel and experience the excitement of that moment when my client has that aha experience that from that moment forward has dramatically changed their life and perhaps the lives of those around them forever. I don’t think about how they will feel or think about the way I feel when I have this experience. I feel the way I feel when I am having this experience even though it is being experienced in my imagination.
It is in consciously investing these creative moments in my SELF through the imagination process that I receive the dividend of living my life imagined. Note that I said consciously, because whether I do or don’t imagine consciously the result is still the same, I live the life I imagined.
The question is not, can you live the life you imagine, for you are. The question is “will the life you live be that which comes from conscious creation or default?” Imagine what life can be and it is.
Imagine what life can be and it is~ Jim Phillips Click To Tweet
