Jim's Gems
Imagination
Where are the limits of human potential? Where are the limits of your own personal potential? These are questions that have fascinated society for centuries, and they won't be totally satisfied in this brief discussion; however, let's use our imagination to stretch our thinking a bit.
Imagine a blind sculptor. Imagine a deaf composer. Imagine a one-legged man climbing a mountain. All are flesh and blood and have walked this Earth. Imagine huge, incredibly heavy machines flying through the air like birds, carrying people inside traveling to exotic places. Once unimaginable - now happening innumerable times a day.
Now imagine ordinary people walking across red-hot coals without harm. Think of so-called incurable diseases, healed without medical help. Imagine yogis in India and Tibet raising their body temperature or slowing their heart rate at will. All these things also happen every day.
Imagine a world in which conflicts are settled peacefully, where children and elderly are considered national treasures. No one ever goes hungry, no one is without medical care, and no one is a victim of a violent crime. Imagine a world in which racial and cultural differences are prized because they give us richness, and tolerance is practiced from the cradle to the grave.
A great poet once compared the imagination to a lamp, shedding light on possibility. What do you think? What is possible not just for us as individuals, but for society as a whole. Take a few minutes to stretch your imagination to see what you can discover. Perhaps share what you see with others as you must be able to visualize this future world before it can ever be created, but it’ll take change.
Change, however, can be intimidating; but using your imagination can present all sorts of possibilities. William Arthur Ward, American author and educator, said “if you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.” The challenge is to fine tune your imagination. The sooner you begin, the greater your possibilities.
Think about it…
