subject: Fantasy Vs. Vision- A Life Coach Is The Answer [print this page] Fantasies can be a lot of funFantasies can be a lot of fun. But fantasies are not designed to give us what we want. They are designed to keep us from having what we want. They are designed to keep us in fantasy. Fantasies are ways to self-medicate; we fantasize as a way of avoiding pain -- all kinds of pain. Yet fantasies maintain the ability to medicate only so long as they remain fantasies. If a fantasy moves into the realm of "vision", possibility, or manifestation it often requires effort, work and delayed gratification. Fantasy and delayed gratification are mutually exclusive. What makes fantasy such a powerful anesthetic is its ability to instantly project one's mind into deeply altered states of illusion.
One of the most painful experiences for us as human beings is to attempt to manifest a dream and fail. One of the benefits of staying in fantasy is that we don't have to have the experience of losing a dream. In many cases we would rather fantasize about having something than actually take the risk of possibly failing in an attempt to create it. Having a fantasy gives us something to always look forward to. It is a way of keeping ourselves medicated in the present by holding on to some possible future (which is actually not possible at all as long as it is kept in fantasy) which we fantasize will be much better than our current circumstances of lack and suffering. What we fail to see however is that it is often the act of staying in fantasy that keeps our abundance and prosperity-our joy -from reaching us.
Fantasies exist in the realm of the non-creative. They have no real power. They are but a perverted version of our true power to create. Fantasies by definition will never be. Not showing up and not happening is an inherent attribute of fantasies.
Envisioning, on the other hand, exists in the realm of creativity. Our power to create rests solely in our ability to envision -- to see what we want and then claim it by speaking it into existence. We see it in our mind's eye and then bring it into the world by saying out loud what it is. This is all-powerful. It is in fact the only power we have. We inherited it from our Creator as a direct result of His creating us. If dogs create more dogs, cats create more cats, trees create more trees, what would a Creator naturally create? More creators!
To envision in this context is a two-fold process. First you see in your mind what you want to manifest and then call it forward with the spoken word. Ultimately the only difference between fantasy and vision is that vision is backed with the intention to bring forth. This intention injects into our thoughts the charge of Spirit and in so doing impregnates our mind with a living idea. To speak that idea is to give it birth. Then it needs only to be nurtured and loved so it will grow.
You can tell the difference between fantasies and visions by the degree and type of disclosure surrounding them. Visions are typically shared and fantasies usually are not -not with other people and definitely not with God. Most of the time we keep our fantasies to ourselves because in so doing we keep them from having any real power to create. The Course in Miracles says, "nothing is created with out some form of joining." We know this inherently. That is why we keep our fantasies a secret. We know that if we share them with our friends or with God there is the potential for another mind to join with ours in our idea. And where two minds join, creation happens.
Visions, however, are shared with God and other people because we intend to create and want to join with others so that we can. Envisioning may not bring the short-term feel good that fantasizing creates but with patients and faith envisioning will bring what we want, creating long-term joy and ultimately an authentic, deeply fulfilling life.
