You May Even Be An Addict
For years, I was a drug addict — just like a reported 95% of the population — so that may even include YOU!
How’s that for a shockingly offensive opening? Good writing is supposed to grab your attention and make you want to read further. Hopefully, I haven’t clubbed you senseless, or worse made you click that delete button, never to return again.
Still with me? I’m impressed with your strength of character. I’m also humbled that you trust me to deliver something of equal or greater value for the time you are investing to read this.
How We Manufacture Our Own Highs and Lows
I’ve been a student of personal development since the early 70′s. Nearly every book I’ve read on the subject contains something about the importance of visualization. Although, in all fairness to these books they did refer to some steps beyond ‘seeing with intention and belief‘, for some reason I would always stop at the ‘fantasy-fairy‘ message. I chose to believe that if I visualized with the right amount of intensity, believing in my heart, I was promised my reward. It even said so in the bible, “You can get anything — anything you ask for in prayer — if you believe.“ Matthew 21:22
Here’s where the drug lord comes in. As I escaped into my temporary fantasy world, I could indeed create anything I so desired in a matter of nano-seconds. What I sought was a pain-free, worry-free life. A life where I had enough money to be above any fear or doubt. A life where all my relationships were loving, agreeable without conflict or confrontation, and most important to me, respecting my need for space and privacy.
Yes, I actually created these fantastic scenarios in my mind. As a result, I would trigger the release of a powerful drug norepinephrine which causes a state of complete euphoria. As long as I stayed in my virtual fantasy world, all was well.
Eventually though, I did have to interact with the real world. People rarely acted as I imagined they would … and should. My bank and credit card statements as well as my wallet were so far from my the vision of financial freedom I had for myself that a crash was inevitable.
Immediately, my body automatically manufactured another powerful drug cortisol, driving me to a most primitive yet protective state of fight or flight. Medical science has recently recognized this as an Amygdala Hijack. It’s the autonomous knee-jerk reaction the vast majority of us have when the @#$% hits the fan.
Years of this dramatic fluctuation between euphoria and depression takes a tremendous toll on the body. I have no doubt that my own health challenges can be directly attributed to this yo-yo effect. It takes a Herculean effort to constantly deal with the frustration and disappointment that always follows the incredible highs when we search in vain for something that does not even exist.
Are You Ready for Rehab?
This is the answer. I have indeed been caught up in escape fantasy, believing that all I had to do was visualize – BELIEVE - with enough intention and intensity, THEN it would all magically come to me. Of course, SOME DAY and WHEN never came.
Oh, there were many times in my life when mystical, magical things appeared to happen. In fact, some of my favorite stories involve these seemingly miraculous occurrences:
- The story of how I moved to Toronto in 1981. It is fantasy movie material.
- Then there’s the equally miraculous story of how I got to marry the woman of my dreams.
- On a smaller scale, how I got the car of my dreams when there really was no apparent way it could happen — I could only explain it as a miracle.
Looking back with total honesty, I now see that these occurrences were NOT just based on dream-fantasizing. I was also DOING A LOT to make sure things happened. I was pro-actively putting myself in the path of success.
Your Road to Recovery
Here’s the difference as so aptly described by Og Mandino in his free Intentional Creation Report. Correct visualization will point you in the direction of action. It will connect you with people. It will cause you to draw on your experience and expertise to create value for others.
Escape fantasy is just the opposite. It will disconnect you from those with whom you can exchange value – your service for their money. It will keep you hopelessly searching for something that does not exist on this earth — that is a life of ease, where everything just magically falls into your lap.
You must GIVE before receiving. Focus and attention to the things you desire are fine. But it’s only a start. You will be led to action – most often action that appears to be mundane, repetitious and boring. At first, you may be ill-prepared to handle these tasks, such as when you start a new career, business, or even a relationship. You will be forced to become responsible and accountable. You will be stretched. You will struggle.
You will grow!
And from that growth you will receive the reward which you so earnestly seek — the happiness and peace that comes from a deep sense of purpose and accomplishment. That’s the ‘Do What You Love’ part. You know what follows, right?
You gotta Love That Feeling!
While it’s fresh on your mind, be sure to check out the FREE Intentional Creation Assessment by world renowned self-help, inspirational and motivational writer Og Mandino.
All of what you have read in this article is but a tip of the iceberg from what you will discover about yourself through this free assessment. This may be the missing link to putting your life together. It has helped me tremendously to finally understand my own self-imposed blocks and limitations.
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LOL I just read an article somewhere today claiming that the main thing wrong with people today is all the positive thinking that’s been shoved down our throats for years. We’re so busy being fakey happy that we’ve forgotten our reality–and the things we need to do to improve it. I’m of the mind that denial is probably the strongest “drug” anybody ever takes. Choices have to be made all the time in life. Best to do it with a clear head, a healthy dose of skepticism coupled with some hope that things will work out. Yet, remember they don’t always–and then a new choice is required until we finally get it right. Visualization is a boatload of crap. You have to go further. You have to DO not just imagine.
Visualization by itself, as implied by so many sources of wisdom including the Bible, is really belief in a fantasy fairy.
Visualization alone without proper action is an exercise in futility. Yet, I have read that as many as 97% of people today still buy into the ‘Visualization’ teachings, “Believe with enough intention and intensity, and it will come.”
As I mentioned in the article, this form of visualization is purely for escape and avoidance. It’s no different than a person who drinks to excess, takes drugs to mask pain, or indulges in any other popular form of escape/avoidance tactic.
However, it IS a fact that humans think in pictures. In the Creation Story in the Book of Genesis we read,
God SAW! Visualization is as natural to us as breathing. When I say the word pie, you automatically see a picture of a pie in your mind. You don’t see the letters P I E.
No matter how much you wish upon that pie though, it will not fall into your lap unless you DO something. Sure, it may come through channels which you least expect and may SEEM like a miraculous manifestation. Perhaps you visit someone and they just happened to have baked that pie fresh for you. The thing is, you had to visit them first. The pie didn’t just fall into your lap.
Most often though, that pie will manifest through your own direct and correct actions. You grab your favorite recipe book. The first thing you see is a picture of the end product – your perfect vision. In your mind you quickly calculate the risk/reward variables. Is this going to be worth it?
You imagine the smell and the taste. You hear the raving compliments of the people eating the pie. You feel enough joy to compel you to follow through and take action.
But you still have to take correct action. You can’t do like my 13-year-old step-daughter who has done everything mentioned up to this point; she has the vision and the heart of gold to take well-intentioned action. But now she strays a bit and decides to create her own version of pie by tossing random bits of this and that together. Who needs a recipe book? Everyone knows what goes into a pie, right?
(Yes she has done this and the family has had to swallow a few bites of her ‘experiments’ before advising her to stick to the instructions until she has a bit more experience.)
Compare her results with the person who follows the recipe book to the letter, or to the results of an experienced cook. My step-daughter had the vision and the best of intentions. She even went so far as to take action. But was it well-advised, correct action?
This formula of creation/manifestation happens automatically on every level, from baking a pie to developing a business empire worth billions. Everything starts with a vision. But it doesn’t stop there, as 97% of the population have been so disillusioned and devastated to experience first hand.
Yes, everything starts with a vision. And as long as a person agrees to pay the price after weighing the risk/reward factors by taking whatever correct action and “persists without exception” as one of my mentors, Andy Andrews is so fond of saying, I believe anyone can indeed attain anything they want.