Here is the story of one who was faithful to his vision.
This is a short story, but a very good one. F.B. used his imagination wisely and consciously, imagining how he would like things to be. And then his world changed exactly according to his imaginal act. If you are in need of something, I hope this story inspires you to do the same.
“A friend who knows my passionate fondness for opera tried to get Kirsten Flagstad’s complete recording of Tristan and Isolde for me at Christmas. In over a dozen record stores, he was told the same thing: ‘RCA Victor is not reissuing this recording and there have been no copies available since June.’ On December 27th, I determined to prove your principle again by getting the album I desired so intensely.
Lying down in my living room, I mentally walked into a record shop I patronize and asked the one salesman whose face and voice I could recall, ‘Do you have Flagstad’s complete Isolde?’ He replied, ‘Yes, I have.’ That ended the scene, and I repeated it until it was ‘real’ to me.
Late that afternoon, I went to that record shop to physically enact the scene. Not one detail supplied by the senses had encouraged me to believe I could walk out of that shop with those records. I had been told last September by the same salesman in the same shop the same story my friend had received there before Christmas.
Approaching the salesman I had seen in imagination that morning, I said, ‘Do you have Flagstad’s complete Isolde?’ He replied, ‘No, we haven’t.’ Without saying anything audible to him, I said inwardly, ‘That’s not what I heard you say!’
As I turned to leave the shop, I noticed on a top shelf what I thought to be an advertisement of this set of records and remarked to the salesman, ‘If you don’t have the merchandise, you shouldn’t advertise it.’ ‘That’s right,’ he replied, and as he reached up to take it down, discovered it to be a complete album, with all five records! The scene wasn’t played exactly as I had constructed it, but the result confirmed what my imagined scene implied. How can I thank you?”
…F.B.
As you can see, F.B. trusted in his imaginal act so much that when the salesman said, “No, we haven’t,” F.B. mentally responded, “That’s not what I heard you say!” He didn’t forget what he heard in his imagination. He saw and heard what he desired and wouldn’t take “No” for an answer.
And he got exactly what he wanted in the end. Why? Because he fully trusted his imaginal act.
Whether it’s a rare opera album or a different kind of goal, the principles of visualization and faith in your imaginal act remain the same.
I encourage you to think about something you desire deeply. How would it feel if it were true? Can you use your imagination to see the desired outcome? Yes, you can. Remember, you have the power to change your world. You just have to start using it.
Story from the book The Law and The Promise
