Creating The Future
When the artist Michelangelo was asked how he approached
sculpting his masterpiece, David, he replied that he chipped away everything in
the large piece of marble that wasn’t David. Michelangelo had tremendous focus
and concentration in present time, but he hadn’t also maintained his future
vision of what David would look like, he would not have achieved the incredible
statue he envisioned.Our greatest hope is to learn from our past and to draw upon
the wisdom there, to be fully absorbed in present time with focus,
concentration and creativity and to retain an inspiring vision for the future.
An excellent example of this is the story of the Russian
composer and pianist, Sergei Rachmaninoff. The premier of his Piano Concerto
No.1 in 1897 in St. Petersburg, Russia met with such critical reviews by the
local newspaper that Rachmaninoff fell into a depression for two years. Unable
to recover from the trauma he sought help from a physician, Dr. Nicholi Dahl,
who specialized in autosuggestion. Autosuggestion is what we now call
self-hypnosis. During the two year period of his depression, Rachmaninoff was
afraid to compose for fear of failing again. The voices of his critics haunted
him.
Dr. Dahl assessed Rachmaninoff’s case and advised him to use
the same hypnotic declaration everyday, “I
will compose a new concerto. I will work with the greatest of ease. The
composition will be of excellent quality and the critics and public will
rejoice!”
Even though this is a very elementary use of self-hypnosis,
the affirmation worked for him. Rachmaninoff repeated these positive statements
day after day for two years. During that time he began composing Piano Concerto
No.2. This composition had its world premier in October 1901. It was an instant
success and is regarded as one of the greatest piano concertos in classical
music history. Not only did he rise to the occasion, he exceeded it. Dr. Dahl
helped him to regain his confidence, let the past go, move beyond his fears,
reignite the joy of composing, and to perform in public again.
Your past is filled with stories of success, fun, and
adventure IF you take the time to rekindle these memories. Your present can be
packed with fulfilling experiences if you are willing to take a few risks, try
new things, explore new options, and stretch beyond your daily and weekly routines.
And the future? Your future begins by creating stories with
your imagination of what you would like to do, what you would like to experience,
where you would like to travel to, how you would like to feel, and what you
would like to attract and bring into your life. The future stories you create
in your mind set the tone for what is possible to manifest. Optimism and
positive expectancy are powerful forces. Have no doubt about this. You can
create your future. It might not be on par with Michelangelo or Rachmaninoff
but it will be a creative and unique expression of you and that is a wonderful
thing!
John A. Tamiazzo, PhD
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