Imagination and Creativity

Albert Einstein once said that imagination is more important than knowledge. Under the breath of understanding this statement, we can go further and imagine our lives to be more creative in design than what we choose to believe.

"Imagination is not a talent of some people, but is the health of every person." Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The dictionary defines imagination as the ability to form ideas or images in the mind and the ability of the mind to be creative or solve problems. This means then we all have imagination, we use it in our every day life.

Many words are associated with imagination, such as artistry, creativity, fancy, ingenuity, insight, inspiration, inventiveness, informal mind's eye, originality, enterprise, resourcefulness, sensitivity, thought, and vision. Other related forms are image, imager, imagery, mental imagery, imaginable, imaginary, imaginative, imaginativeness, imagine, imaginings.

Benefits of Imagination

Jane Bolton, Psychology Today in her article "'Build Self Esteem and Zest with Intention and Imagination' explains imagination as one of the six functions of our minds (along with logic, reason, will, memory, perception, intuition). Our ability to use our imagination for our benefit plays a major part in our experience of power, self-esteem and joy. In fact, one definition of the word "empowerment" is the ability to assign advantageous meanings to life's events. Facts are facts. But the meanings of the facts we make up, imagine, and interpret all the time. We can't help ourselves--our minds are made to create meanings."

Imagination, including imagery has been approached from serious scientific, philosophical or historical perspectives. Nigel J.T. Thomas Ph.D. is a philosopher, cognitive scientist, and historian of science and psychology who has developed a web resource for the study of imagination and mental images and their relevance to the understanding of consciousness and cognition.

Taking Imagination Seriously

An Artist's View - artist Janet Echelman uses her imagination to capture a windy day and brings it to life in her art forms. She gives an artistic view and on her Ted Talks explains how she found her true voice as an artist. "When her paints went missing, it forced her to look to an unorthodox new art material. Now she makes billowing, flowing, building-sized sculpture with a surprisingly geeky edge."

A Poet's View - To take a slightly more whimsical and romantic view, let's agree with poet and spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy who writes, "Imagination is birthless and deathless, its power is inexhaustible."

If we are able to take imagination and weave it into expansive works of art, we can also take imagination and apply it to our lives. The approach we take is to look at a more imaginative way to refresh or reinvent our life stories and see through a different lens that anything that once may have been impossible is now possible.

How To Handle Conflict Like An Adult

It is important to know how to handle conflict like an adult because they have become part and parcel of our everyday lives. In this article, I will attempt to demystify how this can be carried out properly.

It is very possible to achieve a piece of mind. I cannot promise you that it will be easy, however. This is because when emotions run high, things tend to go out of hand. But if you are willing to make an effort and put your mind to it, you can achieve anything you want to. On a lot of occasions, I have found out that the past plays a very big role in determining how you will react to pressure.

If you had been burned badly in the past, the actual thought of it occurring once again will send you jumping high to the mountains. You can try to avoid it for sometime but you are just delaying the inevitable. You will have to face the music in the end.

So what can you do to handle conflict like an adult?

The first step is Just Breathe; it is vital that you learn the art of thinking before you act in order to calm yourself. In your mind right now I know you must be saying that it looks too simple an exercise to make a major difference. My advice to that is that do not criticize an idea that you have not yet tried. If it is that simple, then you should have no problem setting aside a few minutes every day for it. Just look for some place that is quiet and slowly take a breath in and out.

Clear your mind of negative thoughts because they just drain your energy. This is an art that takes some time to be perfect because you will constantly be tempted to think about what you need to do. To try to help these occurrences from happening, remind yourself that it takes only 5 minutes of your time to do it. When you get upset or someone makes you angry, find a safe place and count to 10 right away. This has been proven to be of great help and prevents you from saying things in the heat of the moment that you would later regret to have said.

Secondly, take action; Problems are obviously not solved purely by thinking about them. Some action has to accompany it to make things happen. As soon as you have calmed your nerves, you must be willing to show that you have gotten past the fight and are looking for ways to remedy the situation. Think of possible solutions if it is something that keeps coming up.

Get some advice from your friends who are well-meaning. Should you need to confront a person about a certain issue, make sure that you do it with a clear mind. Avoid letting the situation turn violent. Be wary of the words that you use when you are dealing with your partner. Try to see where they are coming from as you tell them why you are hurt. It is good to always remember that if you plant kindness as a seed, you will harvest kindness in return.

Show Some Kindness; this is another method of showing your loved one that you are a good person in spite of the conflict. You may be asking yourself how this is related to your problems, but I assure you that when your partner sees that you are attempting to be nice, you will feel more complete because they will acknowledge it. If you focus on the good side of a person, you will soon realize that your situation is actually not as bad as you thought it was and that other people are facing worse challenges.

It will help you realize that each and every couple has their fair share of challenges and your relationship is not an exception to the rule. I have no better way of fueling your hope than to let you know that if you are willing to be better than the rest, you will be able to make a change for the better.

I know that how to handle conflict is tricky especially if you are not used to this sort of thing. That is why I am here for you. You can get assistance by following the URL below with more up, close and personal guidance to resolving your conflict. See you on the other side.

Become the Person Who Can Move Mountains Part 3

We all possess important qualities within us. Some people know what their qualities are, and can access them at any time. For others, they have not discovered what they are. We all have the capabilities within us to succeed. Why is it that some people succeed while others don't? What makes us so different? What is lacking? Here are some tips to help you become the person who can move mountains by using the tools that you already have.

Knowledge is power, and having a well thought out plan. Regardless if you are looking for personal or professional growth, you have to take time and devote it to learning. Expanding your mind is a wonderful thing however; you will need to go deep within your mind to find out what direction you want your life to go. If you are looking for happiness, you cannot find it doing the same old things, try new things. Taking that much needed time to become knowledgeable in the path you choose is priceless. Learn the reasons and the benefits of each decision you make.

If you are looking for professional growth you will need to learn how to network. If you are not sure how to do this you have a couple of options; take a class, or hire someone to teach you, or they can network for you. Having a knowledgeable team and actively participating in networking and social media is essential for the growth of your company.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Do you have a career, or perhaps own your own business? Whichever you decide; pay close attention to every detail. When following your career path it is important to get the required education needed for that particular field. The more information you gather, the more prepared you will be. If you want to own a business, do your research first. What product are you selling? Who are your customers? What are your customer's demographics? Who are your competitors? Are they making a profit? Every department within your company is vital to your company's success. You might want to take a course to see what's new in that particular industry. Again, pay attention to every detail.

You can learn so much from your relationships with your parents, friends, co-workers, partners, etc. Your relationships have taught you; trust, compassion, loss, understanding, and love. In those relationships others have learned from you as well. Become knowledgeable in your decisions regarding your relationships, ask yourself important questions. Is this person good for me? What is his/her past? Do his/her actions go along with their words? Is this person controlling or manipulative? If you are not sure about something, search your soul to find the answer. Talk to your family and friends, they can help.

When you have knowledge, it doesn't have to be shown or spoken. It is up to you to share your experiences, and knowledge with others or you can just bask in knowing.

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Put an End to Complaining by Squashing Negative Thoughts

Those who spend a great deal of time complaining do a lot of negative thinking. Both complaining and thinking negative thoughts feed off of each other.

When you voice complaints, you're validating negative thoughts. When you don't believe in yourself you are effectively making your life more difficult. You're putting obstacles in your path before you've even begun.

It is time to put an end to complaining by squashing negative thoughts. It all begins with understanding that eliminating a pattern of negative thoughts and complaints can be rewarding.

The truth of the matter is that any extreme emotion and any expression of such emotion can be addictive and can feed each other. However, you don't have to remain under that control.

Learn to recognize negative thoughts. Be patient with yourself as you work through negative thoughts. Reason with yourself about whether such thoughts will enhance or detract from your quality of life.

A Formula to Conquer Negative Thinking

Be firm about personal development - You need to be decisive. Either you want to get rid of the negativity in your life or you don't, although I would think you would. Nonetheless, work on it steadily and address it when it comes up.

Negativity is easy and comfortable for you, but a life without it will make those around you and yourself much happier and your life much easier.

Always be on the alert for negative thoughts - At first you may only catch them when you find yourself complaining. Analyze how you got to the point of complaint. The sooner you catch the negative thoughts, the more capable you become in your effort to stop complaining.

Be a problem solver - You don't need to judge the type of person you are. You need to instead judge what it will take to change your negative thoughts.

Your mind can switch between thoughts quickly, but it can only process them one at a time. If you set your mind on a positive path, it cannot go negative without making a switch.

Making a conscious effort to stay on the right path is important in the early going, but the whole process of thinking in positive terms can become a habit after several weeks of concentrated effort.

Be Responsible for Your Thoughts

There is a misconception that you cannot control your thoughts. This only happens when you choose not to make the effort. If you want to overcome negativity in order to stop complaining, you need only to learn how to recognize when you're off course and to re-apply positive thoughts.

You are in control of this process. This is why it is often, correctly said that you are the one who decides whether you will be happy or not.

You must decide whether or not you want to live a life of circumstantial complaints or a full life of your own choosing. The first step is to stop negativity.

In order to achieve this for the long run, you must stop complaining. One cannot exist for long without the other. Take responsibility, eliminate complaining by squashing negative thoughts.

What You Think About, Matters!

"Wow-aren't you lucky!" "You're kidding me, how did that happen?" This is the response I've gotten from lots of my friends and family, when I told them I'd be going to Florence, Italy for a week (without my husband and two sons).

I have a friend who travels to Italy every year for 6-7 weeks and she has invited me to join her a time or two before. For whatever reason, it never worked out, because I felt for me, it was too hard to figure out how to leave my family, business, etc and run off to Italy. (Read that last line closely, I felt it was too hard, impossible, really).

But the last few years, I've been doing a lot of work on my belief system, which some people refer to as mindset. One of the exercises I did last year, was to create a mind movie, which is a visualization tool using pictures and affirmations set to music to help you manifest the life and business you desire. (You can search mind movies on You Tube, to see some great examples of mind movies people have created)

You then watch your mind movie once or twice a day, so the images, music and affirmations that support the life you are creating for yourself, are always top of mind. It's the same theory as listening to motivational tapes and speakers, or frequently reading affirmations.

In my mind movie, I had placed quite a few pictures of the places I wanted to see around the world, including a beautiful picture from a terrace in Italy. And for nearly a year, I watched my mind movie everyday, sometimes twice a day.

When you see a picture over and over and over, it can really get into your subconscious, or your belief system. So this summer, when my friend asked me again to join her in Italy, I felt it was totally possible for me to take advantage of the opportunity. And things just fell into place, my husband encouraged me, I easily found childcare for my children, I easily found someone to help me book my flights, using my points from a credit card-it all became possible.

So, I don't believe it was by luck, or by chance that this opportunity came; I believe that through the visualization of what I really wanted for myself, I was ready when the opportunity came again.

Your thoughts do matter. What you think about, what you believe, what you put in your brain, ALL matter!

What are you thinking about? Will you be ready when the opportunity presents itself?