Clarity of Vision
Imagine trying to drive at night in your car with windows covered in Vaseline - or try walking around for a day with prescription glasses that aren't your own. You might find it very difficult to function and get where you'd like to go - even when your ability to think is perfect. That's where clarity of vision comes in.
Most people are born with an enormous potential to think and be. We've had roughly the same potential thousands of years ago that the greatest scientists use now to unlock the secrets of the universe and spark revolutionary inventions. The difference now is our knowledge - the knowledge of how to use our potential that's been laying dormant for thousands of years.
The secrets of the universe have always been there. The possibility for invention has always existed. It was the evolution of knowledge that allowed us to access more of our potential that made the difference. Ideas exist right now that could make you a billion dollars by next year! Right now these ideas exist, right this very second. They wait for the right person with enough knowledge to pluck them from the sky and turn a flash of insight into a tangible solution.
The very fact that we have the power to unlock a potential vastly greater than we've ever been exposed to might still be hard to comprehend. Imagine the irony of a hairy grunting caveman emerging from his cave to stare up at the stars, and having the physical resources to build a space ship that could land on the moon. It's almost unfathomable - yet it happened, very slowly, over many generations.
Imagine yourself now as a modern caveman. Look up at the stars and try to comprehend what secrets you might be able to unlock in your short lifetime - a journey that might seem unfathomable at this time.
You of course don't have as much time to make things right as Evolution does. If a messed up person is born into the world, evolution has more people to compensate for the defect. Evolution has plenty of time to correct herself and plenty of people (over six billion in the world) to spread out the defects so that progression still takes place. On a micro scale as individuals we have just one lifetime and roughly 80 - 100 years to work out own defects.
Once knowledge is gained outside its original confinements, the sphere of understanding has expanded, never to return to its original state. That is the essence of progression. Every new thought, every new perspective, ever new invention takes us past a point we cannot return to. We may fight it (like the dark ages), but inevitably the world takes the shape of its most expanded state (like the Renaissance until today).
Clarity of vision gives us focus. That focus sets us on a course far outside our current sphere of understanding. As our knowledge expands significantly - so does our life progression. It is inevitable that with significant progression we should experience significant reward. Our end destination may be so unfathomable at present that we can only journey there in our imaginations. We may laugh at the future we create for ourselves, and certainly those around us in our present circumstances might laugh at our ambitions. Much like we'd laugh at the caveman if he said some day someone in his family would land on that mysterious orb of light called the moon. But the moon was a real objective. We could always see it. It was out in front of us generation after generation taunting us. It was inevitable that it had to be explored. You can be sure it won't stop there either - we will eventually conquer Mars. It is in man's nature to visit and "conquer" every possible destination in the world and beyond.
So we now have the understanding of man's ambition to conquer every real and visible destination before us. We can use this understanding to create a very real and tangible vision that looms over us like the mysterious light of the moon. A destination so clear the mind can't tell whether it's real or imaginary. A destination so vivid and enticing the mind can't help but desire to conquer it.
It is in the clarity of vision we discover the root of motivation. The small steps we take today lead us to a tomorrow we could have only imagined. And here we discover the future for what it really is. A figment of our imagination - nothing more than a prediction based on present day facts. Predictions based on logical guessing. And a guess is all we have to influence the future.
If you guess where you'll be with a hazy idea - you're right! Your life will be clouded and you'll reach a hazy destination, not sure if you've made it or if you're still climbing. The mind may tirelessly seek for something to conquer but it finds nothing more than a misty haze of hills and valleys. Searching for something but not quite sure what it is.
If you guess (or craft a guess as a goal) with a very clear idea, you might at first laugh at the prediction. That's because it's based on present day facts. The fact that you live in a motor home with $50 in the bank makes the prediction of having $10 million dollars in 5 years ridiculous. But you have the power to change the factoring. For example if you live in a motor home with $50 in the bank but you study at Harvard Business School - that might make the prediction of achieving $10 million in 5 years more realistic. By adding just one fact to the circumstance you influenced the logical conclusion. On a side note even if you couldn't afford Harvard Business School you could create the equivalent by accessing cheaper but well researched forms of education around you.
You have control over a variety of present day factors that allow you to influence your future's logical conclusion. But the only way to really take control is by getting clear on what you want. For instance you wouldn't go to Harvard Business School if you really wanted to become a Nun. You've got to be clear on your destination to take the right steps on getting there.
Once your vision becomes real things may seem to pop up out of nowhere that will bring you closer to your once impossible goal. Don't be fooled, this isn't magic. You've just started to see the road signs that lead you to your ultimate destination. This only happens with focus. And you can only focus on something you can clearly see. British mountaineer George Leigh Mallory was once asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, and replied, 'Because it's there'.
This article is part of the James Rick Daily Vitamin by James Rick, a daily blog that merges our understanding of spirit with the physical world. James Rick is author of Full Potential, a revolutionary guide to mastering your life in stages. He is also a motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and CEO of two international ventures. More can be learned at JamesRick.com