Thoughts
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"I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream."
- Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch painter and one of the most famous and influential figures in the history of art.
Unfortunately, none of this fame or influence was bestowed upon Van Gogh during his actual lifetime. He ignored his physical health, suffered from psychotic episodes and delusions, and was widely considered to be a veritable madman. He sold only one painting in life and committed suicide at 37 years of age, obscure and neglected.
Despite his short time among the living Van Gogh still managed to produce 2100 works of art, including 860 oil paintings typically characterized as bold, dramatic, and impulsive. Decades after his death, Van Gogh's paintings gained him widespread critical acclaim and his reputation grew among artists, critics, dealers, and collectors. In fact, the images of Van Gogh's paintings live on today. There is an entire museum in Amsterdam dedicated to his artworks; it receives nearly two million visitors per year.
Ultimately, the dreams of this neglected and troubled genius live on in his paintings.
Crucially, the dreams preceded the paintings.
Build The Image
Everything that we do starts as a thought. This thought usually takes the form of a visual image in the "mind's eye."
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The Starry Night. |
Ponder that for a while, and relate it to your present life situation. If you think about it hard enough, you will eventually realize that the present state of your health, your work, your social life, your bank account and whatever else that constitutes your life situation is nothing more than a physical manifestation of your previous thoughts (1).
We need to be crystal clear here - your present life situation has nothing to do with your present thoughts; it is a product of your previous thoughts.
This is a powerful concept, for it also means that if you wish to change the state of your physical reality, you must first change your thoughts, and if you are not pleased with your present situation then you must change those thoughts right now, immediately. If this is the case, stop reading this for a moment and imagine the goodness or prosperity that you wish to obtain or become. Relax, let it float into your mind's eye. It's there somewhere, but it may be buried deep.
Like Van Gogh's dreams and his paintings, your thoughts will serve you best if you use them to change your reality - not the reverse!
Many people seem to get this backwards - instead, they allow their present life situation to dictate their thoughts. In this scenario, a person's thoughts become a mere reflection of what is around them at any given time. Sadly, such people proselytize their thoughts, making them subservient to their life situation - conforming, directionless, and lacking in lustre. This is an unfortunate and critical error.
The truth is that we can build any thoughts or images that we like, and we choose to make them positive or negative. Positive thoughts produce positive realities. Negative images can only produce negative realities.
Believe In The Image
Building the image is the first step. You then have to believe in it. This is difficult - it's much easier to believe in something physical that can be seen, heard, or touched rather than that which cannot be sensed. Yet belief in the latter is infinitely more important.
When people fail to obtain or become their image, it is not from a lack of ability to obtain or become that image, but a lack of belief in their ability to obtain or become that image.
Believe in the image in your mind's eye - really believe - and trust that whatever is necessary for it to happen will occur.
Do not doubt yourself. Doubts poison belief. If they are allowed to linger, your subconscious mind will start to accept them. When you are stricken by doubt, just stop, and imagine that you already have the good and prosperous image that you wish to obtain or become. Hold onto that image, until the doubts recede and vanish.
To recap, your present life situation is the result of your previous thoughts. If you want to change that life situation, you need to start with two critical steps.
First, build an image of the goodness and prosperity that you wish to obtain or become.
Second, believe in that image; let go of the doubts.
With a bit of hard work, the rest will follow.
Solace.
References
(1) Proctor B. 1984. You Were Born Rich. McCray Publishing.
