In Closing
Congratulations!
You have now completed this course in the art of creative
visualization and know how to use this technique to create whatever
you want in your life! No matter what the goal, the same five basic
steps will allow you to accomplish it. Keep in mind that the bigger
the goal, the longer it may take to manifest. But that’s okay.
There’s a lot to do and enjoy while you wait and lots to learn along
the way.
What’s Next?
Even though you’ve completed this course,
it’s important to understand that you can continue to grow and
develop as a creative visualizer. The more you aspire to do this,
the more meaningful and powerful this process will become for you.
The following activity will help you become clearer about your
strengths and weaknesses as a creative visualizer. This will give
you a better idea of how far you’ve come and where you want to go
from here.
Strengths
and Weaknesses Assessment
Consider each of the following subject or
task areas covered in this course. Rate how successful you feel you
have been at understanding or accomplishing each by placing a circle
around the appropriate number on the scale provided.
Progressive relaxation
Not successful at
all
Very successful
1-----------2-----------3-----------4-----------5----------6----------7----------8----------9-----------10
Setting a goal
Not successful at
all
Very successful
1-----------2-----------3-----------4-----------5----------6----------7----------8----------9-----------10
Determining the qualities
Not successful at
all
Very successful
1-----------2-----------3-----------4-----------5----------6----------7----------8----------9-----------10
Picturing your goal
Not successful at all
Very
successful
1-----------2-----------3-----------4-----------5----------6----------7----------8----------9-----------10
Focusing on the image of your goal
Not successful at
all
Very successful
1-----------2-----------3-----------4-----------5----------6----------7----------8----------9-----------10
Charging your image with energy
Not successful at
all
Very successful
1-----------2-----------3-----------4-----------5----------6----------7----------8----------9-----------10
Recognizing blockages and barriers
Not successful at
all
Very successful
1-----------2-----------3-----------4-----------5----------6----------7----------8----------9-----------10
Opening to insights and intuitions
Not successful at
all
Very successful
1-----------2-----------3-----------4-----------5----------6----------7----------8----------9-----------10
Letting go and allowing
Not successful at
all
Very successful
1-----------2-----------3-----------4-----------5----------6----------7----------8----------9-----------10
After completing this exercise, look for
the areas in which you circled 6 or higher and draw a large star to
the right of each. If you have a gold color crayon or magic marker,
use that to color in your star because that’s what you have earned
for your accomplishments in these areas—a gold star! These are your
strengths in creative visualization and they can be relied
upon in the future to help you create what you want in your life.
Now look for the areas in which you
circled 5 or lower and place a big box around these or highlight
them with a marker. These are your weaknesses in creative
visualization and they are the areas in which you will benefit from
some additional work. By bringing your “self-rating” up by as little
as even one number in each area, you will be exponentially
increasing your effectiveness as a creative visualizer. You can do
this by reviewing the material in each of the corresponding units in
this workbook to strengthen your knowledge and give you additional
experience. You can also strengthen your weaknesses and just plain
learn more by working with the books and tapes listed in Appendix A
which seem appropriate to you.
Make a commitment to yourself now to begin
strengthening your knowledge and understanding in at least one of
these areas in the next few days. If you like, you may number the
areas in the order of their priority for you. So the area you
believe needs the most immediate attention or is the most
interesting to you would be number 1, etc. This will give you a game
plan for action and help you decide what your best next step will
be. You may certainly select another goal to work toward as you
strengthen your abilities in these areas!
Are
There Limits to Creative Visualization?
In my classes I am often asked if there
are any things that you can’t create using creative visualization,
no matter how well you do it. Here’s what I believe about this:
Whatever we can conceive of, we can create. If you want to really
stretch to the end of the possibility spectrum and try to create a
purple cow (although with genetics these day, that may not be far
off), being king of the world, becoming invisible, or any other now
seemingly impossible thing, you are free to try. And it is my belief
that if you put 100% effort into any goal and believe that it is
possible, you can—in one way or another—create it. My question in
these kinds of instances is, why would anyone want to? My
recommendation is to create all the love, happiness, prosperity,
fulfillment, and adventure you can handle until you get bored with
these things. Then see if you still care about creating that purple
cow!
There are times when we (usually
unconsciously) won’t let ourselves create something that we think we
want. Given time and exploration, it’s usually fairly easy to
discover why something we were visualizing didn’t come about.
Generally, there are three reasons why we might not get, or seem to
be not getting, what we are visualizing.
1.
Our goal is not for
our highest good, or we will wind up regretting having achieved it.
Sometimes we think something will be good for us when it won’t. At
some point, if we are paying attention, our highest guidance will
help create an event or experience that will let us know that our
selected goal won’t be good for us and why. Unless we are very
stubborn, we will abandon it quite willingly and “thank our lucky
stars” that things didn’t turn out the way we thought we wanted them
to! For example, we may be visualizing like crazy for a particular,
very expensive car. If we are on a middle-class budget, that
expensive car may be fun to create, but too expensive to maintain.
If we got it, we might be spending far too much on insurance,
repairs and maintenance, and soon regret we ever got the darn thing
in the first place! If something isn’t going to be good for us, we
may well sabotage our own efforts to create it.
2.
Something better is
in the works. Sometimes
it seems like our visualizations are going nowhere. When this
happens, it’s not uncommon to later realize that something bigger
and better was in the works. For example, maybe we didn’t get that
raise because a better job with another company was coming along,
complete with a higher salary. Or perhaps we weren’t able to create
that great relationship as soon as we wanted because the “right
person for us” was living in Philadelphia, preparing to move to our
community at the time. When there doesn’t seem to be any reason why
something isn’t coming about, put it on the back burner for awhile.
Affirm that progress is being made and that when the time or
situation is right, your goal (or something better) will be
gloriously accomplished.
3.
We need to remain
with the current situation for reasons we might not yet understand.
Before I began to write and teach about creative visualization, I
held a number of jobs that were good—some even great—jobs. But none
were THE job I believed I came here to do. None allowed me to do THE
work that would professionally fulfill me. I often felt very
frustrated, and I fussed at the Universe: Why was I here doing
this job when I yearned for something more? Now that I am
finally doing the work I yearned for, I realize that I couldn’t be
doing this at all if I hadn’t first had those jobs. Those jobs just
happened to prepare me to teach, to write, to use computers, and to
publish newsletters as well as training materials! All along the
Universe was bringing me what I needed to get me to where I wanted
to go!
The only
advice I can give you here is to trust in the good intentions of the
Universe. If you aren’t getting exactly what you want now, even
though you are following the process faithfully, looking at your
blockages, using your insights and intuitions, etc., then smile a
secret smile. Because it’s very likely that you are being prepared
for something you’re really going to love. Part of you knows that
you are in training for the future and will keep you on the path,
despite your current frustrations.
There’s No
Turning Back
If this is your first introduction to
creative visualization and many of the concepts presented in this
workbook, I will tell you what many others who have taken or will
take this course already know. Once you have opened the door to
expanding your consciousness (your mind, your thinking, your
awareness, etc.), there’s no turning back. Once you have expanded
the boundaries of your world, you can’t shrink them back again. This
course is just a small part of a journey you are on—a journey of
self-discovery as well as discovery of the Universe around you.
In Appendix A that follows, I have listed
some excellent books and tapes for helping you to continue on that
journey. These materials will help you to understand more not just
about creative visualization, but also about many other areas of
interest and discovery that relate to personal and spiritual growth
as well as physical and emotional healing.
I wish you well on your journey and very
much appreciate having been invited to travel part of the way with
you! This is an opportunity I have visualized for myself, and it has
brought me great fulfillment to share this information with you.
I close with warmth and gratitude, and two
quotes from a couple of great teachers. From Dr. Wayne Dyer, the
author of Real Magic and many other wonderful books:
“You are not a human being having
a spiritual experience.
You are a spiritual being having
a human experience.”
And from Abraham, the spiritual teacher who comes through Esther
Hicks:
“There’s never a crowd on the
leading edge.”
In Closing, The Art of Creative Visualization: A
Self-Teaching Workbook
Patricia F. Hare, Copyright
© 1995, 2003
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