Major James Nesmith has an inspiring story. He spent seven years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. During his grueling imprisonment, he was restricted to no physical activity. Isolated and confined to inhuman living conditions, he discovered a survival strategy that kept him sane. Major Nesmith figured he would practice his golf game in order to pass the time. Naturally, he didn’t have access to a literal golf course, as he subsisted in a five-by-five cage. Yet, his mind wasn’t fettered. The Major could generate the perfect golf course in his mind’s eye. In his own mind he imagined himself playing 18 holes of golf each and every day of his captivity. He would design the most beautiful course imaginable, down to the smallest detail, including the fragrance of freshly cut grass. He was methodical and visualized every hole, every shot. He would imagine how far the shot was, what club he needed, what kind of lie he had, and even the time it took him to complete the course, three to four hours each day. Since it was his course and his game he never missed a shot. The funny thing is before Major Nesmeth joined the army, and left for Vietnam, he was a three-digit player almost never breaking 100. Amazingly, after his release the first day he stepped on an actual golf course he shot a 74, dropped a full 20 strokes off his game. This story speaks of the power of vision. The phrase that jumped into my heart, as I was reflecting on this story: The picture you hold in your mind will be the reality you find. If you can see it, you can seize it. You can program your mind to see a certain outcome and then subconsciously it goes to work to create that reality. You see the brain does not know the difference between an imagined image and a real image. Maybe this is why Scriptures teach, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Or “Without a vision the people perish.” This is not some metaphysical mumbo jumbo visualization stuff. This is the power of having a God inspired, Spirit directed and Word of God induced vision about your life that can become your new reality if you dare.
“The picture you hold in your mind will be the reality you find.”
Be Inspired,
Carl
I get your devotionals as they come out, and look foward to reading them as they are a good source of food for thought. I like this one especially, it goes to show how important it is to have a vision for your life.