Practical Imagination
Keeping your feet on earth and living an imaginative life can sometimes be difficult. However, there is a way to be both imaginative and practical.
Practical imagination is the way. A practical imagination is an imagination that is in the habit of reducing everything to "What can I do now?" and "What can I do today?" If you can't do it today, don't sweat it. Only concern yourself with what you can be done today and let tomorrow take care of itself.
Pulling back from a big dream and taking the next logical step to the fulfillment of that dream is difficult for some people. But it must be done.
If you have trouble doing this, remember that big dreams are often fulfilled incrementally. In most cases, you will find yourself working everyday at making your dream come true. In order to do this, it's best to decide what can be done today and do it. It feels good accomplishing something every day without fail.
Practical imagination will go a long ways towards reducing the anxiety associated with feeling overwhelmed. If the whole task can't be done today, imagine how you might cut the task in half. Do that half.
If half the task is too much, cut it in half again. Keep cutting the task in half again and again until you have something that you can imagine doing in the immediate now. This is practical imagination.
It is by taking care of today that we find tomorrow taking care of itself.
©Edward Abbott 2002-2004