A Vision Equals Hope
I think we can all agree that 2020 has gotten off to a rocky start. Rocky start, doesn’t even come close to the helter skelter that has been this year to date. What a topsy turvy. For many of us, it may feel like the carpets been pulled out from beneath us.
Rather than the customary springtime activities of al fresco luncheons and impromptu brunch dates with friends, we’re staying in our homes and finding as much contentment as possible with digital interactions with friends and family.
Because of the uncertainty and upheaval of the times in which we live, it can be very easy to feel hopeless. Yet, it is in such times when we must be intentional not to lose heart.
I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s not. But it is necessary.
Visionaries are never people who look around themselves and try to emulate what they see. They are people who have their focus fixed ahead of them, seeing beyond their now, and because they can see beyond, they draw that future into their present.
Now more than ever it is essential that we write our vision, make it plain, and harness it. Refuse to let it go. A vision is not dependent on what we see in the natural around us. It is dependent on what we want to see.
Here’s another way of saying that: it is dependent on what we cannot see.
With all the time we have been spending at home, there is ample opportunity for introspection. Now is the time to delve within yourself, to analyze, to ask the tough questions. What do you want to see for your life? What are the changes that need to happen for that to come about?
Snow Crocuses strive and strain to push themselves through the snowy covering in order to reach the warmth of the sun. Within them is an intrinsic knowing that the time is right. The conditions are hard; no plant wants to bloom in a frigid environment. But the snow crocus does. It knows it’s time and it pushes through the snow.
On Valentine’s Day this year, Dave Koz interviewed Lani Hall and Herb Alpert on Siriusly Sinatra. During the hour long Herb Alpert: Artist Confidential conversation, Lani Hall made an observation about her husband that is so insightful.
Dave Koz asked Herb how he seemed to keep his pulse on which direction to take his music to keep it relevant. Did he listen to his contemporaries and take cues from them? What was his process?
Before Herb Alpert could reply, his wife hopped in and said that while many musicians and performers will listen to the current sound on the radio and think, I want to copy that, I want to emulate that, Herb listens to the sound of the now and asks, what sounds am I not hearing?
As Herb Alpert’s impressive lifetime career as one of the most successful musicians does attest, this is how a visionary thinks.
So, while we find ourselves in quarantines, lockdowns, and self-isolations, don’t focus on the present. Don’t look around you and let all the anxiety and uncertainty rob you of this unique opportunity to write out your vision.
“Make it plain. Be definitive. Be specific. Do ask those hard questions. What are you not seeing that you want to see? What are you not hearing that you want to hear? They are simple questions, but the answers require a multifaceted approach consisting of time, space, and quiet to search ourselves.”
But when it comes to establishing the vision for your life, isn’t it worth it?
So, rather than binge watch another series on Netflix, Amazon, HULU, or wherever, quiet yourself. Clear a space to let yourself be. Gather implements- a notebook, a vision board, magazines, colored pencils and pens, markers, whatever inspires you.
And give yourself the freedom to see beyond the confines of the here and now and into your future. Seek out the glory. Look for what you know is missing in your life. Find the notes you’re not hearing, the words you’re not seeing. And write them down.
You have within you something that only you can give. You are a specially shaped piece to the puzzle of life. No one else can fit the way you do. You’re the golden thread woven into the richly textured tapestry in this world. Each thread is necessary and holds its own purpose. So, don’t shortchange yourself during this time. You are essential. You are needed. Do not neglect this special time in the world. Please. In this here and now, become a visionary.
Without a vision before you, hopelessness can creep in. Let’s be honest, even with a clear and definitive vision, hopelessness will persist on knocking on your door. The only difference is that when you have a vision for yourself, you have a lifeline, you have a target, you have a hope to hold on to in the storms of life.
And hope is one of the most essential things in life.
