I don't know if you remember, but when I was a kid my imagination was everything to me. I could spend hours being engaged in imaginary worlds. I remember how I imagined my tricycle to be a motorcycle; how I would ride it and in my imaginary world I was tough. My imagination brought me adventure, made ordinary objects special and most of all it made my life more fulfilling.

Unfortunately when we grow up we start paying less and less attention to our imagination. We often use such expressions as "Stop imagining" or "Get your head out of the clouds". This point of view isn't entirely without merit. Being grounded is important, but it is also important to use imagination to its full potential. Here are some of the benefits of using imagination:

1. Greater ability to envision goals.

We all know that planning is important. As the matter a fact it is so important, that you will not be able to achieve success, unless you have a clear goal you are working towards. Imagination helps you to give form to your goals, first in your mind, then in the real world. Without imagination we would not be able to envision where we are going.

2. Greater ability of understanding abstract concepts

In order to be able to grasp some of the more abstract concepts in our life, we first need to imagine them. In order to understand what love is we first have to imagine how it feels to be in love. This concept is so abstract, that a simple description will not do it justice. The only way we have to be able to grasp this concept is our imagination.

3. Greater planning and conceptualizing ability.

Any time we are involved in planning anything, we first have to conceptualize it. If we want to come up with a solid plan of action, we need to see it clear in our mind first, and then organize it on paper. Same goes for when we want to come up with a new idea or concept. The process is the same. First we envision it, and then we bring it into the reality.

4. Increased creative ability.

Big part of being creative is being able to use your imagination to its full capacity. We go through a similar process as conceptualizing when we create. The difference is probably that creativity is more of a stream of ideas and concepts, where as conceptualizing is the ability to give these ideas form. In both cases imagination is paramount.

5. Rich internal experience.

When we use our imagination often, our experience becomes rich and colorful. Imagination adds an emotional overlay to our often unexciting day to day life. By seeing the world through our imagination, we see it as if through "Rose colored glasses". We need this kind of experience, and if this part of our life is lacking, we can often become unhappy and depressed.

To sum up our imagination is crucial to our success and the quality of experience we have. The best part of all is that all we need to do to develop it, is simply use it. The more we do, the more developed it will become.