When I was a young dancer studying at the School of American Ballet I had a poster hanging above my bed that read:
If you can imagine it, you can achieve it
If you can dream it, you can become it
I looked at it every day but I don’t think the words meant as much to me then as they do now. Since then I’ve done a lot more thinking about how much our thoughts influence the way our lives unfold. If you consider the idea that everything that exists began as an idea first it’s simple to make the connection that thoughts play a part in creating reality. As books like The Secret tell us, we get more of whatever we focus on. The thoughts alone do not make things happen – we also have to do our part and take action – but they do align us on a path… we move ahead in whatever direction we’re facing.
As a dancer I found so often that my mind got in the way. If a teacher tossed out a particularly difficult turning combination, for example, my mind would go wild with fear and doubt; I would have myself so psyched out that I was done before I even started. I told myself I couldn’t do it and guess what? I couldn’t. But I never really allowed myself to give it my best shot and never found out if I was capable.
In the years that have followed I’ve kept up an ongoing experiment, noticing how thoughts impact my life and I’ve come to realize that when I create change within my internal landscape, it echoes into my outer landscape, the world around me. The spongy stuff between our ears can be our greatest asset… or our greatest enemy. It’s really our choice.