The Power Of Freedom  
by Dwayne Gilbert

Freedom is a word that is often used by people. I am free. But I find myself wondering much of the time if people really understand what being free really is. Freedom has nothing to do with what someone else tells you that you can or cannot do. Freedom is about having options for a solution to different situations. Imagine pulling up to a four way stop sign, at that moment you have the freedom to go four directions. You can go straight, right, left, sitting still, or turning around. Now imagine traveling down a narrow alley. At this point, you only have two options, keep going, or stop and sit still. Learning to recognize where you limit yourself and narrow your options is key in developing freedom for yourself.

Letting go of what we expect to happen can be a major step in developing freedom. Freedom really is a state of mind. The ability to recognize options as they present themselves as well as being ok with what happens can be essential in discovering freedom in your life. Know what you want out of your life, of course. You must know what you want, but you must also be ok with letting the universe deliver to you what you need to get to where you want to go. Let go of the exact way you think it has to happen and begin to recognize options. Begin to open your mind to the world around you. If you only have one option, you are nothing more than a machine. Machines do one thing, and that one thing depends on what they are programmed to do. If you have two options, you are at a point where you have a problem. This or that. Many times people limit themselves to one or two options and never realize that their are infinite options. The more options you create, the closer to freedom you get.

Let's take a look at a common situation that many people tend to only see one or two options and never realize freedom because of it. Most people believe and are taught that the best way to make money in our society is to go find a good job. If they want more money, they limit themselves to two options. Find another job that pays more or get a part time job during their free time. What they don't realize is that they have limited themselves. They only have a certain number of hours a week and can only make so much per hour. No matter how many jobs they get, their is a cap to their ability to earn. Unless they are in the top 3% of jobs that make millions of dollars they can never find financial freedom with this solution. They have limited their options because of their thinking and beliefs. What if instead they opened their minds to other options. They could start a part time business in their free time. They could start writing a book. They could begin to record music and mailing it out to companies. They could take a hobby they love and start doing it on the side to make some extra money. They could invest in stocks. They could do a million other things. So why don't they? Because they have limited their options again.

Sometimes people do see these other options, but limit themselves once they are in that paradigm. They might realize that they can make money in stocks or start a business, but they limit their options again. Let us say for example that someone starts a lawn mowing business. They believe that cutting other peoples grass is the way to make more money, and it is in a lawn cutting business. But often times they fail to realize that they could pay high school kids a few bucks to go cuts lawns for them allowing them to cut five at a time instead of just one themselves. Or that there are other options than just cutting grass. They could plant grass for people. They could move into total landscaping. They could prune and trim trees. They could do a huge number of things involved with peoples yards. But by limiting their options to cutting grass, they again are unable to find the freedom that screams from within inside them. That is if they take action at all and are not frozen by the fear of possible failure.

Most people limit their options simply because they would rather stay where they are familiar with things but miserable than break outside those boundries and take a bit of a risk for the chance of success in return. Learn to chase your dreams no matter the cost and open up to the options that are there. If you simply begin to chase your dream, options will open up and show you the way. Many times we become attached to what we want to happen or the way we think it has to happen and we close ourselves off to other opportunities. We cling to one option and limit our freedom to that one thing having to be it. Nature does not work this way, so why should we. There are literally hundreds of species of trees. God didn't make just one type of tree and hope that it worked. he made thousands of types of trees so that even if a few failed, there would still be thousands of others that could survive. There are literally thousands of types of insects and animals. There different types of water. Salt water, sulfur water, ice, fresh water, and hundreds of other types of water. All serving a purpose but allowing for options. If god works this way, why would we limit ourselves to one or two options and never open up to more. It seems much smarter to work as god would work and as nature would work and open ourselves up to other options.

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Imagination: Your Supertool for Dream-Realization  
by Susan K. Minarik

Einstein deemed it more important than knowledge, saying it was "everything. A preview of life's coming attractions." Napoleon said it rules the world. Thoreau proclaimed the world was its canvas. And you, my friend, own it: the illimitable power of imagination. Unleash it on your dream-building and you'll be astonished at the results it can create.

The reality-generating part of us works, after all, with images. To imagine is to tune into the language of your entire other-than-conscious mind. When you let imagination play in the field of your dreams, the images it creates not only strengthen your motivation, but let you experience the feel of living your dream. It impresses the emotions of living it into your body, and your subconscious mind interprets them as real, energizing your belief in the possibility of your dream's realization. The more you dip into images of your dream, the more you become it because its sights and sounds, its textures and motion become a real part of you.

But imagining in your dream field can do far more than that. It can reveal directions to take, create tools and inventions for you to use, lead you to expert advice, allow you to tap into higher guidance, send you on expeditions to the future, to distant lands, and to every possible alternative reality. It truly knows no bounds.

The trick to learning to use it well is two-fold. First, you need to spend some time with it. And second, you to come at it as a form of relaxed play.

Happily, you don't have to devote hours to it. A few minutes here and there will work wonders. But if you seriously want to unleash its power, devote a little 15-minute block of time every day to imagining your dream. The main thing about spending time with it is to do so frequently. It's portable and private, so you can use it anywhere.

The most helpful attitude for imagining is one completely free of stress and strain. In fact, imagination's favorite launching pad is boredom! As you no doubt have observed, it will automatically launch itself whenever your mind is idle.

A good way to get it going in the right direction is to ask yourself a question or two about something you feel you need to accomplish in order to get nearer your ideal outcome. Suppose you want to write a novel. You can ask yourself what your characters look like, how they move, how they dress. Then watch as your imagination brings you the details.

Maybe you're a composer and you want to create a new piece of avant-garde music. Send your imagination into the future to attend a concert there, and capture it on your imaginary digital recorder. (Your mind will believe it's real and will actually play it back for you later on!) Or visit the past and ask Mozart to invent a new tune for you. Since imaginary time has no boundaries, you can take your modern recorder into the past with you as well.

Need to sell your house in order to relocate to the neighborhood of your dreams? Imagine a panel of million-dollar real estate producers telling you what to do to get the perfect buyer to snap it right up, and then follow through on their suggestions.

Want to increase your financial wealth? Imagine how you'll feel when none of your daily choices are governed by their price tags. Imagine how you'll stand and walk, the kinds of people you'll have as friends, the kind of environment that will be your normal world. Allow the feel of it to infuse you until you automatically model the behavior of your future self.

Sound outrageous? In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill told how super-achievers use these very techniques. They're at the heart of the famous Silva training system. The practice may seem audacious, but it works.

Give it a try. Consider it an experiment and let it prove to you the difference it can make.

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