Imagine when we were all still children. We were able to play with paper dolls or wooden cars, and create realities in which we were happy. We could do everything we wanted and there were no limitations to our dreams ' except the voice of a parent that interrupted for mundane things like mealtimes and bath-times.



We were all princes and princesses who were rescued from bad people, or doctors who healed people (and yes, even doctors and nurses who had to satisfy the curiosity about our own bodies), or firemen who did brave deeds.

As we grew older, the imagine games were toned down and we moved into daydreaming. We still used the same imagination, but we did not share it with the world. We created an inner world that had enough space for all the things we wanted to do and be and experience. We stopped sharing our dreams with others, because after all they were not "real" and we were expected to cope with "reality".

Over time we stopped dreaming. We stopped using our imagination. We became parents and part of our role was to teach children to distinguish between reality and imagination. We would even get irritated at children that had these unrealistic dreams and visions of a future that could not be, because we know what is real and what is not.

Do we? The famous psychologist Carl Jung said "Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens."

For me, imagination is a doorway to a different reality. The real reality is a place where we can dream, where there is no hurt or distractions, where we get inspiration and ideas.

The illusion is the one that we live every day. The illusion is the world with fears and limitations where we choose to have feelings that can be described as negative.

Artists and entrepreneurs retain their imagination, and they become adults who dream unashamedly, and then live those dreams. We look at these people in awe and admire their guts and talents. We cannot understand how they can take such immense risks, and why they are so successful even though they do not quite act like grown-ups.

Most people get on with life, and occasionally day-dream. Then we pull ourselves back to "reality" because we know those day-dreams are only dreams.

Yes, they are only dreams, if we choose to believe that.

However, if we understand that day-dreams are not a means of escape from where we are, but rather a means of taking us where our true selves are, we will spend much more time daydreaming.

We need to be reminded that thoughts become words, and words become actions. Daydreams are thoughts. Those thoughts occur because they come from our souls. We can choose to write them off or ignore them or suppress them, but they have a habit of popping up again and again. Why? Could it be that our daydreams reflect our true selves, and that we like to put up such a fight against our true selves that we refuse to daydream?

Using your imagination is not limited to daydreaming. We have what we like to call brainwaves, thoughts that come "out of the blue", flashed of inspiration, and what we like to call crazy ideas. Sometimes we perceive these thoughts as so outrageous that we discard them and get on with "reality".

If we are brave enough to accept all our thoughts, especially the more outrageous ones, and put aside our fears and prejudices, we will be in a much better position to embrace these gifts from another dimension and act on them.

Yes, these thoughts and ideas will change our lives, and change is often scary because it leaves us out of control, but imagine we can live our dreams. Would that not be wonderful?

Of course it will be. And the only way we can live our dreams is to keep dreaming, in ever increasing detail, until we are able to put those dreams into words, and then see how the words become action, and how the action brings the "reality" that we live closer to our dreams.

"What would people say if I live my dreams?" you ask. They will probably initially say you are having a mid-life crisis. Then they will say you are being irresponsible. Then they will see how your world changes and they will stop saying anything and just observe you from a distance. Then they will ask carefully worded questions, and then they will start to live their own dreams with abandon and with a zest for life that they never had.

Do I want to live this reality? In my dreams!