The Experiment

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that 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.” Henry David Thoreau

You may have heard this quote before. It feels powerful and we are drawn to the wisdom and the possibility he describes. Thoreau’s experiment was to “live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach…”. What he discovered in the two years he spent in this experiment beginning in July of 1845 is the great secret of life that most of us have not yet grasped. Let’s break it down.

If one advances confidently: is this how you live each day, with confidence, with forward momentum? You may be more familiar with other modes of living…distracted, worried, doubtful, hopeless, resigned, uncaring, as if it doesn’t really matter. Advancing confidently requires that you break free from these stuck places, not looking backward to the past or forward to the future. It requires that you become present to the possibility in the moment and allow your confidence to arise from within, in the direction of your dreams.

Do you have a dream for your life? Do you even know what would fulfill you, what would make your heart sing? The focus of your confidence is in this dream, in this next greatest possibility for your life. Your dream is the life which you have imagined. Thoreau came to understand this great truth…that the power to transform our life, to live our dreams…is in our imagination. This is where it starts, where the spark ignites. What have you imagined for your life? What could you imagine? Not how could it possibly happen…but what is the life I would love to be living? Imagining this life, your life, is essential. It is how you put in motion a success unexpected in common hours.

There may not be one shred of outward evidence that your dream is even remotely possible. Thoreau is reminding us…that is not what matters. If you move forward, toward the dream you have built in your imagination with consistent and confident expectation…the universe says YES! You become aware of ideas, situations, people and opportunities that were previously unavailable to you. It is not a miracle…it is simply the way life works…from the inside-out.

Dream big dreams!

Paula

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