The Power of Wishful Thinking
I stood beside the sink and marveled while dad proved his manliness. He whipped lather in a cup with a steaming shaving brush. His face disappeared in glorious white foam. The swipe of a towel revealed his lips. In my memory he looks clownish. But shaving was too important to be funny when I was a kid.
I can still see clean skin appear while he casually pulled a gleaming Gillette over rugged stubble. I even hear the sound.
Grandfather Morrison was more civilized than dad. He used an electric razor. I couldn’t admire the metallic tapping of a safety razon on white porcelain, but I respected the accumulation of man-debris under the majestic floating heads. Occasionally he opened them to brush evidence of his manliness into a metal can by the sink.
It was thrilling when my whiskers started growing. So what if you needed a magnifying glass to see the little buggers. Mom dismissed them as peach fuzz. They meant more than peaches to me.
The Power of Wishful Thinking:
#1. Wishful thinking is a beginning.
Wishful thinking contains a longing to be heard.
What do you wish would come true in the next 3-months? What are you prepared to do today to make wishful thinking reality?
#2. Wishful thinking energizes hope.
Hope is vitality.
- Reflect on things that could be. What if?
- See potential where others see obstacles. How could this be the beginning of something glorious?
Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things…” Andy Dufresne, Shawshank Redemption
#3. Wishful thinking has a darkside.
Don’t allow the darkside to drain energy from hope, but you should know about the “ought-is fallacy.” It’s when you assume the way you wish things to be is the way they are.
What can you do to make wishes come true?
Still curious:
The power of wishful thinking: It influences what people see
What can you do to make wishes come true?
–Focus
–Clear goals
–Hard work
–Openness to coaching
–Commitment to continuous improvement
–Determination to succeed
While I read this, I couldn’t help be reminded of my own journey, and where I’m at now. In my late 40’s I started developing my grandfather’s widow’s peak and very bushy eyebrows. I’m appreciative of the small reminders.
As for what can you do to make wishes come true? I agree with what Paul wrote above, and would just add that they need to be made a priority, and worked on daily even if small progress is made. I’m slowly learning that lesson: while I have many interests, I can’t pursue them all and reach high levels in them all.
Another downside of wishes: you may put all your effort into wishing and not enough into working towards it.
Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true! “Aesop’s Fables”
The joy of wishing and having hope leads to setting goals. Then taking steps towards those goals. Then whey you achieve the goal you are elated. Then after 40 plus years of mastering that goal. You may finding yourself not appreciating that goal any longer. Don’t ignore or throw away that goal. Take time and thought to refocus and modify that goal. For example taking the time to learn to shave with a strait razor. Then the joy of learning and mastering a skill returns.