POSITIVELY BLACK
By Junious Ricardo Stanton
Creating Your Future
Flip Wilson, the comedian used to say, "What you see is what you get." All jokes aside, that's the essence of life.
What you see or create in your mind's eye and what you tend to dwell upon has a way of manifesting itself in your life. Is this magic? No. It is part and parcel of our powers of creativity. Humans are creative beings. We have the power to visualize, to create mental images and formulate plans in the non-material realm of our minds. It is from these plans, images and visions that we forge our future.
What do you want out of life? What do you want to do, be or have? Do you think it will happen automatically just because you want it to? What will it take for your dreams and aspirations to become reality? Let me make one thing crystal clear, just because you think or create an image in your mind doesn't mean it will spontaneously come to pass. Many of our daydreams and fantasies never come true. However the difference between a daydream and a serious objective is the time and energy we are willing to invest in making them come true.
Our daydreams and fantasies are just mental fabrications. We don't take them seriously and we certainly won't take any action to make them real. Goals, aspirations and objective are different. True, they start out as ideas, images or visions, just as fantasies do. What makes them different is that we believe they have the potential to come true. We think they are possible, plausible and even probable. So, we are willing to invest the time and energy to make them real.
What does all this mean? It means that everything proceeds from thought; that we back our thoughts, ideas and dreams with various gradations or degrees of belief and faith. The dreams we have that we put little or no faith into never materialize. The ideas we put faith and action behind have the potential to come true. We have the power to shape our lives and destiny. Am I saying we have absolute control over everything in our lives or everything that happens to us? No. However, we do have control over what we think, what we create in the laboratory of our mind and what we direct our energies and efforts to make real. We do this everyday of our lives. Our actions are based upon our motives and desires. They, in turn, are based upon our self-image, our values, what we think is possible and what we deem to be right or wrong.
If you don't think you are good at something or you don't feel comfortable doing it, your attitude will prevent you from doing it well. A positive self-image, the ability to clearly visualize what we want out of life, boldness and a willingness to act to bring it about, are more important than many other factors such as IQ, socio-economic status or heredity. Of course maturity and skill level play a major part, but our level of self-confidence is crucial to our success.
Why am I saying all this? Because what you see in your mind's eye; what you believe to be possible, coupled with a healthy and positive dose of self-esteem and an uncompromising willingness to work to make it real, are the ingredients of success. This is a universal law of the mind. "What the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve." Conceive in this case means to create and formulate using the faculties of imagination, visualization, concentration and volition. Believe means to think a thing is possible, to desire it fervently and to be willing to make it real. And of course, achieve means to go through the process of overcoming obstacles, setbacks and resistance to make it happen. The process all begins in your mind's eye, in your imagination.
Again I ask, what do you want to do, be or have? What price are you willing to pay to accomplish it? Do you believe it is possible? Do you believe you are worthy and deserving of your heart's desires? Do you have the faith and courage to overcome your fears, doubts and apprehensions to do what it takes to achieve your goals? Think well on these questions because your answers and your willingness to act will determine what you achieve in life.
You may contact Junious Stanton at e-mail address: JRSwriter@ aol.com