Unintentional Alterations
If you are a mindful and observant friend, you know, through the years and various roads traveled that change can sometimes be of the totally unintentional kind. Sometimes you aren’t even sure what took place; but, you are certain it could not have been planned. All you know is that you stand in testimony of the memory of what used to be, now no more ever to be witnessed. Yes, shit happens, we may assume; but, is it really that simple? Could it be that there’s a completely dehydrated element of unknown origin at work. The ever present “ORB” that rules and governs all of existence.
Feasibly speaking, those circumstantial transformations may be part of an altered universe yearning to contribute. The enigma which is fundamentally beguiling can never really turn out to be definitive in nature. It’s not like an Einstein theory or even a proven scientific formula. What you see isn’t always what you get. This may even have been a figment of your imagination gone off course. While it looks new and different could it be something else?
Trying to consume the changes your mind knows it’s witnessed can lead to empowerment, and can be as inspiring as the last peg played in a game of cribbage. Nonetheless, this phenomenon isn’t anything like you’ve seen before; but, something you’re sure you will see again.
Foreseeable Future
One thing for certain, tomorrow will be the next day along the path to our journey’s end. Each day, each week, each month, each year blends into the next. Sometimes it feels like we’re just marking time. Countless members of the human race feel exactly the same way.
However, others like yours truly, the T*pster, have a completely different feel to the outcome of each and every day. It might be a bit of transcendence as well as a higher insight of what is to come next. Something like a willful exercise to exploit my subconscious into delivering what I consciously want.
The Transcendentalist Movement
Transcendentalists and their movement began in the early 1800’s. Renegade essayist and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson was a philosopher in his eloquent writings about society, culture, reform and the human spirit. Another, who was an advocate for reform and civil disobedience was Henry David Thoreau.
Thoreau believed that as we aged we fell more and more into a routine, mindlessly beating a track for ourselves. The great masses of men, he wrote, live lives of quiet blameless desperation. He condemned this condition, blaming it entirely upon the rat race of materialism. To avoid this fate for himself, he escaped to Walden Pond and built a home in the wilderness. He was certain that to find peace and serenity one must be in communion with nature. It was there that he found great existential truth, harmony and contentment.
For all transcendentalists, nature is the key to peace and spiritual attainment. It offers a deeper realization of existence and allows one to think about the future. In many cases it is more about how to spend one’s time, and understanding how to appropriate and appreciate their existence. Consequently, being a part of the future and less a victim of it.
Visualization
When Norman Vincent Peale wrote “The Power of Positive Thinking” over 60 years ago, he had a difficult time getting published. His book seemed laughable and trite to publishing house after publishing house. However, it is a known fact, that his wife pursued a publisher behind his back and ultimately got his book published.
His book sold over 20 million copies and in 47 languages around the world. Much of the advice in Peale’s book may sound amusing to the masses, but that’s mainly because human wants and desires are conceivably insatiable. Most people are trapped like Thoreau said, in a hedonic treadmill of repetition and unfulfilled desires. The beating of their drum day after aimless day.
The T*pster says
I say, dissatisfaction is not all bad and can even be of great motivational importance. Yearning can turn into learning if proper visualization is employed. To truly excel one needs a steady flow of visual achievements both real and imagined.
On the other hand, a continual sense of lack or yearning can create anxiety and depression. It undermines our satisfaction and can plunge us into deepening despair.
Negative Visualization
Fortunately, ancient Stoic philosophers like, Epictetus knew that all wealth, possessions and stature could be taken away at any given moment. They understood that everything we enjoy in life is simply “on loan” to us by the gift of good fortune. Any or even all of it could be removed without a warning or notice.
These Stoics knew a technique to override yearnings, dissatisfactions and even despair. It’s called negative visualization. Yes, truly imagining that you have lost the very things that you cherish the most.
Most people already have the dream of success and the life they want. Unfortunately, along the way they become jaded, bored, resigned to regiment and even numb to the true blessings around them. The Stoic’s goal is to wake us up and to make every person aware of what they have. It’s an old adage, but oh so true, that one really doesn’t appreciate what they have until it’s suddenly not there anymore.
To truly appreciate what good fortune you have takes an understanding of transcendence, and the power of visualization. Norman Vincent Peale got it half right. Positive visualization helps to get you what you want. The Stoics concept of negative visualization consequently, helps you want and value what you get.
The Last Word
Lastly, the Rolling Stones remind us, “You can’t always get what you want; but, if you try sometime you just might find you get what you need”.
