Creating Positive Visions Of Your Future

One small positive thought in the morning can change the entire outcome of your day.

It’s far too easy to get lost in a sea of negative distractions first thing in the morning. I mean, given the fact that we use smart phones as alarm clocks nowadays, it isn’t too difficult to reach over to the nightstand, pick up the iPhone, and get angry, anxious, or depressed because of social media, news headlines, or emails. And even if you are an old soul with an old-fashioned clock by the bed, maybe you still wake up thinking of what the day will bring in the form of stress, stress, stress.

Or maybe you stay in bed thinking of what went wrong yesterday or what might go wrong today.

Break the cycle. Read a devotion, write in a journal, listen to an uplifting podcast, and give your brain and emotions something positive for breakfast. Think of one positive thought about the day ahead of you: about how you will accomplish something; about how you will help someone; about how you will be moving one step closer to a goal simply by getting up and trying. This sort of morning routine and focus can change everything.

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.

Too often we get stuck in the rut of trying to make changes simply for the sake of making changes. We see something bad in our life or our behavior, and we resolve to cut it out! But without vision, this cutting can veer into the realm of pure self-torture.

We might diet not to create more energy and a better body, but simply because we feel we ought to (and thus we go through torturous cycles of guilt and failure and deprivation and binging).

We might read devotions and Scripture not because we want to become enlightened, but simply out of a sense of duty (and thus we never really grow spiritually or find greater wisdom and joy).

We might try to move our thoughts away from something negative, but if we don’t have something new and positive to think about, then the negative thoughts return.

This concept of “needing to fill up empty space” is something that Jesus talks about in the Gospels, too. In Matthew 12:43-45, Jesus talks about how an evil spirit might be purged from a person only to return if the “old” in a person’s life and heart aren’t replaced with something new.

Again, oftentimes in our quest to make positive changes in our lives, we focus only on cutting out something bad: sugar, alcohol, smoking, excessive spending, negative relationships, news headlines, swearing, etc. But if we only focus on cutting out the bad, and if we don’t have anything positive we are replacing that “bad” with, then we will find ourselves stressed, bored, and vulnerable to the negatives returning with a vengeance.

This is why “reasons” are so important (the WHY’s behind our changes), and it is also why finding new and positive passion is so important. Creating positive goals and a positive vision for your future is a necessary part of leaving the bad behind. Imagine the “new” you want to build and then take steps toward that new with passion. The negatives will then begin to drift away on their own, or at the very least they will be a little easier to resist.

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.” Jonathan Swift

Let’s be honest, much of the time this life can consist of pain, busywork, or disappointment. Much of the time the opinions and feedback we get from others can be of the naysaying variety. It can range from the well-meaning but thoughtless dashing of our dreams (“You shouldn’t try that. I’m just looking out for you…”) to downright cruel criticism or condescension.

Much of the time, the physical reality that sits in front of us on any given day—office cubicles, bottom lines, bills, sickness, political turmoil, traffic jams, and the like—can seem very uninspiring. And that is exactly why we must become practiced at seeing PAST the visible. We must become practiced at transcending daily pains and negativity and naysaying. We must give wide birth to our faith and free rein to our imagination. That is how we change lives, both our own and those of others.

Again, think of the biggest inventions of the past 150 years: cars, airplanes, the internet, smart phones, laptops, and on and on. People would have once thought these things impossible.

Think of the books and movies and songs you love: These were once just the fanciful imaginings of dreamers.

Don’t ever be afraid to look past the visible, for that is where we can see things that are truly beautiful and awe inspiring.

Most worries never come true. They only exist in your mind.

Many people have “vision,” but unfortunately the conjured worlds in their minds are made up of past demons or future problems. As human beings we are born (and perhaps raised) with a negativity bias. We hold onto criticism but dismiss compliments. We gravitate toward the negative headlines but ignore the positive. We think about tomorrow, but we often insert failure and disappointment into the next day before it even has a chance to show itself.

A lot of our reality is actually in our head. We are what we focus on. We FEEL what we focus on.

So why not focus on a positive vision of the future, whether that future is five minutes from now or five years from now? Shift the focus to shift the feelings. Try to become better and better at moving away from all of those frightful hypotheticals that clutter the minds of so many people.

Again, this is a divine concept that Jesus speaks of in the Gospels, too. “Who by worrying can add another minute to his life? Doesn’t each day have enough troubles of its own?”

As I mentioned earlier (and this certainly isn’t news to anyone reading this), our lives come with enough tangible trouble each year. However, if we can get used to only dealing with the trouble as it arises rather than worrying about it beforehand, we will clear a whole lot of room in our heads and hearts. Room that can then be filled with positive visions, excitement, passion, and peace.