To make dreams true requires waking up.
A note from H B’s wife, Carol: On June 3, 2021 H B died unexpectedly from a heart attack. This is the second of four blogs he wrote just before he died. I post this one, and then the final two in the coming weeks, on his behalf. Happy reading!
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
~Eleanor Roosevelt
A dream is defined as “a series of images, ideas, emotions and sensations occurring voluntarily in the mind during sleep.” It is also defined as “a wild fancy or hope,” Dictionary. Most people dream vaguely and dread precisely? Do you?
You wouldn’t ask someone if they would like to take a placebo in order to have a positive future; although one might exist, because the placebo effect is the result of positive thinking. Positive thinking/believing about the future might lead to a positive future prophecy. Dreams could be called “positive illusions”, “wishful thinking,” “a pleasing imagination.” Thinking you can is a positive illusion.
“If you think you can you might. If you think you can’t you’re right.”
~Unknown
Positive illusions is a concept made popular by Shelley Taylor in her 1989 book of that name. Thinking you can is a positive illusion. Taylor identified three positive illusions that create self-fulfilling prophecies: 1) Unrealistically positive views of oneself. 2) Illusions of control. 3) Unrealistic optimism for the future. Her book subtitle: Creative Self-Deception and the Healthy Mind.
In other words, Taylor believes that the healthy mind is one that is positive about oneself, positive about the ability of self- control, and positive about the future. By definition, an illusion is “something that deceives or misleads intellectually.” A positive illusion would be one that misleads positively.
This takes us to the paradox of illusion: it is an erroneous perception or a positive self-deception. Therefore, there are negative and positive illusions.
What if your dreams came true? What if what you wish for became reality? Is that good news or bad news? It is well-known that your good dreams are probably vague and your bad dreams are probably precise. And that getting what you want may not turn out so good. So be careful what you dream and what you wish for. And be more precise.
To dream is to imagine, to form a mental picture, to guess, to think. Imagining, guessing pretending and thinking are all valuable human skills. Thinking gets the headlines but imagining, guessing, pretending—and believing are extremely important and valuable human capabilities.
To imagine, to believe, to guess, to pretend is to make use of significant human skills that have evolved over decades.
“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”
~Muhammad Ali and Paul Valery
Positive Uncertainty 