It was so great to sit down and talk so sincerely with Oprah again concerning so many of the controversial ideas in Wishes Fulfilled. I recall so fondly our television conversations back in Baltimore, when Oprah was in her early 20s speaking to audiences so forthrightly, telling people they could indeed choose their own greatness if they were willing to live from their own personal power. There is no one like Oprah -- I knew it then and I know it today some 35 years later. It was stimulating back in that studio on People Are Talking, and even more so in the mist of Maui. I AM certain you will find our conversation provocative and informative. I loved it.
-- Wayne Dyer
My favorite definition of success, which I've cited on numerous occasions, was offered by Henry David Thoreau in the mid-19th century at Walden Pond: "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." I've italicized two words in Thoreau's definition of success: dreams and imagined.
What Thoreau is saying is so important to you today. Be willing to dream, and imagine yourself becoming all that you wish to be. If you live from those imaginings, the universe will align with you in bringing all that you wish for -- and even more than you imagined when you were living at an ordinary level of consciousness, or what Thoreau calls "common hours." Keep in mind the basic axiom -- all that now exists was once imagined. It follows then that what you want to exist for you in the future must now be imagined.
You'll see as you read through these foundations for fulfilling your wishes that using your imagination involves more intensity on your part than just imagining an occasional wishful thought. You must first unlearn some of the ways that you've been misusing or squandering the capacity your imagination has for providing you with an unlimited ability to manifest all that you desire. Thoreau called it advancing confidently in the direction of your own dreams. Unfortunately, most of us have learned to do the opposite with our imagination, and instead regularly use it to develop mental habits of advancing in precisely the reverse direction of our highest dreams for ourselves.
In my book Wishes Fulfilled, I also address in depth how to utilize the "I ams" and live from your "I am God" awareness, beginning with your imagination. Recall that "I am God" doesn't refer to your body in any way. It refers to the birthless, deathless, changeless spirit that remains in all the changing forms your body takes every moment of your temporary life here on Earth.
It is important that you recognize a few of the imagination missteps that will block you from fulfilling your unique desires. Remember that your imagination is yours and yours alone. You have the inborn capacity to use it in any way that you choose. No one else is responsible for your imagination. Anything placed in your imagination and held there ultimately becomes your reality.
Nikos Kazantzakis reinforces this idea by giving these words to his fanciful character Zorba (in his book Zorba the Greek), who always lived his life to the fullest: "By believing passionately in something that does not yet exist we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired." This is the power of your imagination, when what you desire is imagined sufficiently to make it your reality. Don't diminish this great gift by using it in a way that is antithetical to its "I am God" original nature.
Perhaps the most common misuse of imagination is stressing what you don't want for yourself. This is the largest category of misusing imagination. Start paying attention to general conversation, and you will be astounded at how incredibly prevalent it is. Imagining that finds expression in phrases like, "I don't deserve prosperity," "I am always so unlucky," "Things never work out for me," and "I am unhealthy and cannot be healed," are the kind of ideas that may have been entertained since childhood. Highly-functioning self-actualized people simply never imagine what it is that they don't wish to have as their reality.
Begin noticing and be careful about keeping your imagination free of thoughts that you do not wish to materialize. Instead, initiate a practice of filling your creative thoughts to overflow with ideas and wishes that you fully intend to manifest. Honor your imaginings regardless of others seeing them as crazy or impossible. Recall the words of Kazantzakis and passionately believe in that which is in your imagination and which does not yet exist on the physical plane.
Internationally-acclaimed, best-selling author and "Father of Motivation" Wayne Dyer will sit down with Oprah Winfrey for a candid interview to discuss his battle with leukemia and the controversial treatment he believes cured him. This all-new, two-hour special entitled "Living with Grace" will air on "Super Soul Sunday" this Sunday, March 25 at 11 a.m. ET/PT (check your local listings) on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. Filmed on location in Maui, Dyer reveals his battle with leukemia and his decision to seek controversial treatment from Brazilian healer "John of God" (João de Deus). Dyer describes his experiences and the reasons he believes he is now cancer-free.