Imagine
Envisioning your future


I drove in to work early today. I tend to listen to news on the way in to work, and an oldies (takes one to know one) rock station on the way home. I think I was still asleep for the first, oh, 30 miles of my commute before I realized it was time to change the radio station.

As I reached for the button another song came on, John Lennon's Imagine. No news this morning.

I was supposed to be noodling about what to write to you today, but instead I listened to this song again. How many times have I heard it? Every word as familiar to me as my childhood prayers.

I thought about the memorial to Lennon in Central Park. How I painstakingly drew it in my journal the first time I saw it, in tears, years and years ago now.

I was struck then and am now by how this little suggestion, barely a song, barely musical, this call to stop and to actively hope for a different world has resonated in my puny little life for more than 30 years. Has resonated in the lives of millions of people around the world for that long.

I think it has wielded incredible power during that time. I think it has made a difference. That Lennon lived, that he wrote and recorded this song, that his memorial is there in Central Park. I think it all makes an important difference.

You know, I realize this may be a gigantic and inappropriate stretch, to take from a peace-envisioning song a thought about weight loss and fitness. I know. It's absurd. But I am never one to be shy of absurdities, so here goes:

Lennon's device in this song is one used by successful people all over the world and throughout history: Creating an envisioned future, a clear and compelling picture of a preferred future state.

When you have the clear and compelling picture of your preferred future state written down, drawn, painted, or set to music, you have a tool to use for all decision making in your day. Big decisions and small ones. You simply ask yourself: Does this action or activity contribute to or hinder the realization of my vision? And you make your choices with a clear goal ahead of you.

It's a simple idea. And our journal assignment:

Imagine.

Imagine your future, your family's future. Write it down (or draw it, or set it to music). And no, it doesn't have to include an ideal weight or size at all. Your goal isn't a number, really, is it? That's not really the focus of your life, after all. But what do you hope to be able to do with great health? What abilities, what state of mind, what contribution, what life are you working toward?

Write it down and make a place in your heart where this vision can live.

I think it might make a difference.

JuJu


The lyrics
Strawberry Fields, Central Park

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