Jim’s Gems: Imagination

 

We all worry to some degree.  That’s a human frailty.  Worry, however, is a misuse of our amazing creative energy. Think of what would happen if instead of wasting our energy, we used all that creative energy to imagine positive outcomes in our life.

There are no limitations to what we can imagine, and there are no restrictions on the kinds of things we can imagine. Our imagination is filled with precisely the things we choose to imagine.

If we have nothing better to imagine, it can be much too easy to worry and imagine all sorts of disastrous scenarios. However, it doesn't have to be that way---it is our choice to imagine positive or negative outcomes.

With just a little bit of initiative, we can plant positive and empowering seeds in our imagination.  In the fertile realm of our powerful imagination, those seeds will germinate and grow bountiful in the loose soil of our imagination to be ever stronger in their beneficial influence.   

Even a negative experience can set off a positive chain of thoughts in our imagination; that is possible if we choose it to be so. It's really just as easy and realistic to imagine solving a problem and visualizing the positive results as it is to worry about being overwhelmed by that problem and all the potential negative outcomes.

When we feel worry creeping in, remember that we have an alternate choice. As long as we're imagining elaborate scenarios, we might as well imagine the very best.  Really, the choice is ours to make, so make imagination work for you in a positive way.

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Jim L. Smith has more than 45 years of industry experience in operations, engineering, research and development and quality management. You can reach Jim at faceofquality@qualitymag.com.

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