The Power of Imagination

By Chris Trout | June 30, 2008

(a continuing series of blogs on the nature of abundance.)

So we must experience abundance on the inside before we can manifest abundance on the outside? Great. How do you pull that one off??

This is the gift of imagination.  In its simplest form, we reach into the future with our imagination, record the feeling, then bring that feeling into the present and live it. Let's pretend, for example, that I want my relationship with my life partner to be abundant with love and generosity and affection, but in the present it feels stuck and limiting. In the past, I might have responded by working hard to fix each element that feels broken, a strategy that has never really worked, but I keep trying anyway! Alternatively, I can see in my imagination the abundant, healthy relationship I long for - in vivid detail and focused on what I look like, act like, feel like. I ask, "How would it feel if this were my reality?" (Jeez, I think, I'd feel energized and happy and excited to get home.) Again, using my imagination, I bring that feeling into the present, as if to say, "Why wait? Feel it now!"

This simple act (feeling and living the abundance as if it already existed) kicks into gear hundreds of tiny shifts in (my) behavior and communication that impact my relationship in positive ways. I arrive home joyful instead of drained. I approach our conversations with a generosity of spirit that is contagious. My mind sees what delights instead of what irritates. The little things roll off my back as unimportant. And I create safe space where there was once criticism and control. You can guess how another human being might respond to this shift. (Ever notice how generous we feel around generous people? How easy we laugh around people who laugh often? How energetic people energize us? Same thing.)

How have you seen this at work in your life?