The Happiness of Imagination
“Limitations live only in our minds,” pro cyclist Jamie Paolinetti said. “But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.”
Want some limitless possibilities of your own for the new year? Crank up your imagination and see where it leads. Ask yourself, “What would make me feel really alive? What would be a real hoot to do?” and go for it.
Imagination is where it all starts, you know. Everything. It’s the great keeper of all dreams, where everything is possible. And all you need to unlock its powers is a willingness to suspend your can’ts. If you want to enter imagination’s world, you need to leave all your why-nots at the door. Forget your lack of capital and training. Forget your age. Forget your past. Forget every excuse you ever used to keep you from flying free.
Oh, and drop your seriousness in the bucket at the gate, too. This is a world for your child-mind. It’s a game of let’s pretend. Pretend you’re lying on the grass on a warm and sunny afternoon, watching big whipped-cream clouds drift across the sky. Pretend you have no schedule, no appointments, no pressing responsibilities, no obligations of any kind. You’re just lying there, wholly relaxed and free, without a care in the world, wondering what you could do that would make you feel really alive, really pumped about your life.
And as you watch the clouds, they start to take on shapes. You could be a lion-tamer, a rock star, an archeologist digging for dinosaur bones. You could marry the mate of your dreams, travel the world, get a job painting Easter eggs. You could own the company you work for or start one of your own. You could form a barbershop quartet, or learn to play the harmonica.
Something inside you knows your best dreams. Even if you have pushed them down every single time they tried to surface. They’re in there. And lying on your back, so relaxed and warm, you can let them float up and take shape in your imagination’s sky.
And then you can ask, “Why not?” and “What if?” And when you exit Imagination’s world, if you forget to pick up all the stuff you dropped in the bucket at the door, you just might come away with a whole new direction for your life.
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