The Queen remarked to Alice…One’s memory works both ways.
I’m sure mine only works one way. Alice remarked. I can’t remember things before they happen. It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards, the Queen replied. ~ Through The Looking Glass
It’s a pretty poor memory that only works backwards indeed. In fact, the most powerful use of our memory is our ‘future memory’. Huh?
OK, let’s back up a bit….
Memory is our ability to re-call something. If we think we have a lousy memory, what we really have is difficulty recalling something. The fact is, each of us has a perfect memory. Under hypnosis we can recall the color of the room in which we were born, and the first words ever spoken to us. We have a perfect memory. And although our ability to recall things from our past – directions to someone’s home, the names of our client’s spouse and children, a good joke – can serve us and in fact build our confidence and contribute to our success, the real power of our memory is in re-calling our future.
As children, you and I imagined ourselves in possible futures – and we put on that future when we pretended to be a firefighter, or a doctor, or a teacher, or the President of the United States. But for many of us, that ability to ‘put on’ a possible future, to engage our future memory, got left behind with our childhood. It’s time to re-engage that future memory.
I want to invite you to play along with me… Just like when you were a kid, imagine the life you would LOVE to live. What does it look like? Imagine your work in the world, your creative expression. How are you bringing your gift to the world? What do you do each day? Who do you interact with? What is the setting? Now imagine your relationships. What kind of people do you have in your life? What do you do together, what kinds of conversations do you have? Do you have a partner? What is that relationship like? Now imagine your health. How do you feel? What do you eat? What is your weight? What are you able to do with your body – climb mountains, dance, compete in a triathlon, play golf, do yoga? Finally, imagine your financial freedom. How much money do you make? What are you able to be, do, have and give with your money? Where do you live? What is your home like? Do you travel? To which organizations do you contribute?
Do you have the picture of that life? Good – now step into that picture. Imagine yourself as the person who is LIVING that life right now. How do you feel in your body, in your emotions, in your cells? What do you think about? What kinds of conversations do you have? What books do you read? What is your daily routine? How do you dress? What kind of car do you drive? How does it feel to drive that car? How do you carry yourself when you walk down the street? How does that life look, taste, sound, smell, and feel? Put on that life and remember how it feels.
The future you have imagined has a frequency to it, a vibration, a feeling tone – and you want to memorize that frequency. As you memorize and hold that frequency, you begin to step into that future. It starts to become your life. By using your future memory to recall this state, you will draw to you all the pieces of the puzzle – the people, the circumstances, the opportunities, the money, the ideas – required to create the very life you have imagined. This is not hocus-pocus, this is simply the way it works.
So I want to invite you to do an experiment for the next 30 days. First, get a very clear picture of what it is you want to create in your life – the more vivid the picture the better. Now put yourself inside that picture and let yourself feel it with every cell of your being. Memorize that feeling tone. Now for just five minutes a day for the next 30 days, let yourself enter into that place where you feel yourself in that life – you hear it, you see it, you taste it, you smell it, you live in that frequency. You ARE it. Then begin to notice what happens. What ideas come to you? What circumstances open up? What people show up? Begin to notice the power of your future memory at work.
Thanks for that lesson and reminder of how we really can create our own reality. I used this technique during my pregnancy. I was attending pre-natal yoga classes at a location that had a parking problem. It was during the hot summer of 2007 when temps. out on the blacktop were regularly over 110 degrees and a long walk in the parking lot was not easy for a very pregnant lady. I decided to use my doula’s advice, which is exactly what you have written about, and visualized myself parking in the very front about 15 minutes before leaving for class and it always worked. On the days I forgot to do that, I never got front row parking and so after a while, it became a daily ritual to visualize that front row parking so I didn’t suffer the extreme heat on the pavement, walking to class (more like wobbling :) oh, and by the way, I birthed my son after 26 hours of no pain medicine and we went home the same day. As you say, remembering your future is in our own hands.
Moji, thanks so much for sharing your comments. What a great illustration of memorizing your future. Congratulations on the healthy birth of your son :)