Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات · 2 دقائق وقت القراءة · ~10 ·

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The Paradox of Imagination

The Paradox of Imagination

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I don't recall her name, but mostly it was Charlie. She was a poor girl and her family had to struggle to survive. She lived in a small state in the USA. As poor as she was she always imagined herself touring the world. Her family owned almost nothing and her imagination was almost impossible to realize.
One day her mother walked in her room and showed her an ad that was directed at school kids from a cookies-producing company. The ad offered a trip around the world for the school kid who comes first in selling Xmas cookies. The girl eyed her mother and with confidence she responded "Mum- I won and I am going to tour the world".

Such determination lacked the means, but not the will to realize a dream and make it reality. The girl decided to move to another state and nearby car manufacturers and other big industries. Luckily for her, one of her close relative lived there so that Charlie would have free accommodation and a car to take her around. Charlie kept asking herself "how would eye get a minute to talk to the CEOs of big companies to convince them to buy cookies from her in big amounts". She found that by timing her movements and having a powerful and emotionally-moving statement she could do it. The plan was to monitor when CEOs come to work, leave for lunch she would rush to them before getting in their cars or as soon they got out of their cars.

She did and whenever she was lucky enough to reach the CEO she would tell him with a passionate, but not begging, tone "Sir, Investment in my future so that one day I may invest in yours". Every CEO was curious enough to know how a kid like Charlie would possibly invest in his/her future. So, they asked her to explain. That gave her the chance to tell her story and her dream to tour the world. This tour would make her ready for her planned selling career. Once she become successful she promised to buy from the CEO Company. She won the prize by a far margin. Charlie became one of the most successful salespersons and fulfilled her promises to the CEOs.

Imagination may take us from our constraints by not focusing on them, but rather on new possibilities. Charlie had on paper no chance to win. She lived in a state with low population and not too many schools. She had no money, but she had the determination to turn her daydream into a reality.

If you want to surmount your limiting factors imagine a big dream. Live the imagination. Commit yourself to it. The imagination shall even help you come up with solutions that wash away your lack of knowledge in some areas. It shall bring distant possibilities close to you.

Businesses need to imagine the almost impossible. Individuals need to do the same. The power of imagination shall supersede your limitations because imagination shall find alternative and much simpler creative ways to achieve what we want.

Imagination brings us creative solutions that we haven't imagined. This is the Paradox of Imagination.


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#Paradox #USA #Imagination #Charlie #Xmas
التعليقات

Ali Anani

منذ 4 سنوات #53

#68
Thank you Kevin Baker- Indeed, hurdles are direction-changing alerts.

Alan Culler

منذ 7 سنوات #52

#65
Happy New Year, Ali. Please keep inspiring me this year and beyond.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #51

#64
One thing I am sure dear Tausif Mundrawala that is you belong to sphere of successful people because you have the right mindset and determination to succeed and failure is only a transient step to success.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #50

#63
First, I wish you too dear Alan Culler and all bees Happy New Year that is filled with health and joy. Your story and of the experiment are in full accordance with your conclusion "Imagination is foundational, but when combined with committed and persistent action it can produce amazing results" I welcome your support because it bases itself on proven experimental findings. I appreciate your support and knowledge.

Alan Culler

منذ 7 سنوات #49

An inspiring story Ali Anani, Thank you. Imagination is foundational, but when combined with committed and persistent action it can produce amazing results. A colleague once conducted a research study on success. She interviewed over 500 very successful people from many different field -entrepreneurs, artists, sports figures, business executives, scientists. Some had started with nothing; some had a "leg up" with connections or family in their field. Some remained successful; some lost it all and had to rebuild along the way. The only thing that they had in common was their attitude towards failure. Most of us internalize failure -the failed result is a personal failing -"I shoulda -if only I coulda. . ." These folks saw failure as data --a missed target? -by how much? -an opportunity to correct their aim. What they internalized was their commitment to the target and the corrected action they must take. Sounds like Charlie had this attitude. Thanks for sharing and for starting me thinking again, Ali. I can always depend on you to do that. Happy New Year, Alan

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #48

Dear Mohammed Sultan- thank you for your refreshing comment. I couldn't stop thinking about reverse imagination. I am planning to write my next buzz about it sparked the idea. I shall surely refer to your beautiful comment in my buzz. I appreciate greatly your thoughts

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #47

#55
You wrote dear Joris Plaatstaal "The red line is not imagination, but ruthless determination". I believe it is both imagination and ruthless determination together. Imagination opens new paths, new possibilities, shows new ways, makes the impossible possible with sheer determination and persistence.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #46

#56
And as your brief, but concise comment shows dear Zacharias \ud83d\udc1d Voulgaris

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #45

#53
What a lovely expression dear Amina Alami "a world where the shape of her past does not have to dictate the shape of her future". Your use of the shape of her past is eloquent as you didn't say, for example, events of the past. You select your words carefully

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #44

#52
Just seeing your name commenting fills my heart with joy dear Donald Grandy. I appreciate your understanding and support

Zacharias 🐝 Voulgaris

منذ 7 سنوات #43

Imagination is wondetful but totally ineffective uf not accompanied by grit, communication skills, and (most importantly) an inspiring objective, like this story underlines.

Donald 🐝 Grandy PN

منذ 7 سنوات #42

Look no further than Rosa Parks who's imagination led her to refusing to give up her seat on a bus and to whom the United States Congress would call "the mother of the freedom movement". Love this quote: "Live the imagination. Commit yourself to it". Thanks Ali for another great post.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #41

#50
Great synopsis of the buzz your comment is Gert Scholtz. This is truly a brilliant and comprehensive comment. I love it.

Gert Scholtz

منذ 7 سنوات #40

Ali Anani A beautiful story. I guess imagination takes us to places from where further leaps of mind are possible, and so it brings us to creative solutions we did not imagine when the journey started.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #39

#47
Dear CityVP Manjit- as always, you amaze me with your comments and approaches which remind me of my own. One of the presentations that I wrote and is still one of my favorite presentations is titled "Reverse Businesses" http://www.slideshare.net/hudali15/reverse-businesses Now, you shocked me with your term "Reverse Imagination". I love it and I believe this is a concept that deserves to be studied in a greater detail. You hooked me with it and I have a good reason to believe probing it shall reveal some very interesting findings. Thank you my friend.

CityVP Manjit

منذ 7 سنوات #38

#21
Another affinity I find with your reminiscence of the eight children your parents raised, is ironic because that is the same number of children that came into our life and grew up before our eyes, albeit your parents raised them as two people, whereas we had two grandparents and three brothers and their wives to support the eight children that are now eight sparking adults.

CityVP Manjit

منذ 7 سنوات #37

#21
Dear Ali Anani that is perhaps the greatest imagination of all, to imagine being in the shoes of one's parents - to relate to a different time and different circumstances that would be alien to our technologically and economically transformed age that we reside in - it is reverse imagination - the kind of imagination that brings us back to our family roots. We often think of imagination that either builds a future or is crafted in the present - but the imagination to place ourselves in a different time and way, is that which connects imagination to appreciation the most.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #36

#43
I wonder what nickname you give to your "smart" wife dear Harvey Lloyd

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #35

Afwan dear - I appreciate your kind comment which is sugar-like. I say too Shukran

Harvey Lloyd

منذ 7 سنوات #34

#42
My wife sometimes lets me know that the village of idiots want their king back. This has a way helping me back to the real village of life. She is a wise woman that can tame the savage idiot sometimes.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #33

Just to say how grateful I am to read the deep thought in your comments both dear friends Sara Jacobovici. am a student in your village. What a lovely expression Harvey "Simplicity is the understanding of wisdom". This is simplicity that is hard to match. Beautifully expressed.

Sara Jacobovici

منذ 7 سنوات #32

#40
We're all in this together Harvey Lloyd. Thank you for your writing.

Harvey Lloyd

منذ 7 سنوات #31

#37
I find man interesting, somehow we have grown into complexity as a dialogue of pride. Simplicity is the understanding of wisdom. My little village in my head offers me a simplistic view in which to act. Your comments Sara Jacobovici sometimes go the library and others the roots of imagination. Some times they appear down at the armory as wisdom worth repeating, sometimes and just sometimes they spark a new beginning down at the space exploration lab. This metaphor has helped me take complex knowledge and get down to editable. In the end it all boils down to one thing you and I learning and sharing through good and bad times. Thanks for your thoughts and perspective. I know you are a tree of knowledge in your occupation. Please accept my thoughts as just getting your knowledge into my very small village. Often i reflect through commenting.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #30

Thank you for the value you added dear . I am so pleased that your comment reflects the main reason I wrote this buzz. Thank you

Sara Jacobovici

منذ 7 سنوات #29

#31
#32 Thank you Ali Anani's "comment". Harvey, I have to say your description of the village literally moved me. I felt drawn into it, like a visceral effect. The power of your imagination made its way across cyber space. Although it would not be deemed practical, "imagine" if we engaged more on this level. The learning that would take place would be tremendous. As well, the knowledge we acquire would be expanded by how our ability to imagine would use that knowledge. I think this is why the use of metaphors is so important. Metaphors are a practical tool with which to engage in creative thinking. And your comment is a great example of that.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #28

#35
I leave it to both gentlemen (better, gentlebees) to respond. Javier \ud83d\udc1d beBee- hopefully your time would allow you to respond.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #27

Very smart extraction of concepts dear Praveen Raj Gullepalli. We need to believe in our imagination and then plan to how make it a reality. We might not succeed initially so we need be be patient and persistent.Great summary of the story. I thrived on it.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #26

#31
I leave it to Sara Jacobovici. I just loved this idea from your comment "Imagination to me is the real estate that all of the village sets upon".

Harvey Lloyd

منذ 7 سنوات #25

"We tend to put more value and power in our ability to think when the irony is that we wouldn't have been able to develop thinking without first having had the means to imagine." A wonderful view of our brain and how we have become entangled with knowledge instead of imagination Sara Jacobovici. My lay view of the brain has to be simplified for my thoughts. The brain is a village. It has a library, manufacturing and many other shops and facilities that make up life. What would the address of imagination look like in this village of our brain? Imagination to me is the real estate that all of the village sets upon. The villages very existence is based on the fact that our imagination supports the foundations of all the other parts. Sometimes though we get lost in the library of knowledge and run through the streets organizing all the villagers and shops. Leading to a position rather than a journey of exploration. The village of the brain is also joined by other villages. This is where it gets exciting, merging imaginations and villages together to form something greater than its individual parts. This can not happen if we have barricaded ourselves in the library of knowledge. We can only measure, compare or judge. I can not share your knowledge but can share within your imagination.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #24

#26
That is very assuring comment dear Sara Jacobovici. I hope to get more stories to "bundle" them in the intended e-book. I invite again contributors of comments to tell a story about imagination to turn this project into reality.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #23

#24
Like Harvey Lloyd. This is what true imagination is about.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #22

#22
Dear Harvey Lloyd- you are never an intruder. In contrast, you are an enricher because you open our eyes to new dimensions, thoughts and thinking. This comment of your is the proof. I am still digesting the quality of what you wrote "The courage to traverse what the imagination shows us is the moral of the story". I do hope you read my last response to Sara Jacobovici (#20) so that we may have your personal story on imagination- this shall help me collate all stories sooner than later.

Sara Jacobovici

منذ 7 سنوات #21

#25
A very exciting project Ali Anani which your imagination will truly realize! I can already see myself reading it!

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #20

#20
Again, you enrich these discussions with a great scientific story dear Sara Jacobovici bring the idea of collecting stories in a book titled "Stories on Imagination". The literature is lacking a book with personal and inspiring stories on imaginatio. I hope that more stories will be shared here and I am ready to collect them in an e-book to be co-authored by all contributors. I hope that this imagination will be true. I do.

Pascal Derrien

منذ 7 سنوات #19

it turns out that the article is different from what I was imagining or how the title prompted my imagination to react , my imagination wanted to go further and wilder with the story maybe that's what those articles are about.... imagination provider :-)

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #18

#19
You moved me before "performing" your sporty comment dear Sara Jacobovici. Your wisdom is beyond imagination. Being the "Queen of Paradoxes" I am not surprised at all that you explain the paradox of imagination "The paradox that you describe Dr. Ali comes from the restricted use of our innate ability. And so we do not come up with those solutions until we make use of creativity as a means through which to return to engaging our imagination to achieve those results". yes, and decoupling imagination from creativity is a horrible thing to do. You spoke the paradox question, answered it and showed us the solution. I wonder if one day you would describe your imagination stories. I have no doubt you have many of enriching ones.

Harvey Lloyd

منذ 7 سنوات #17

#15
debasish majumder you had me read the story, thank you. "And that chance is for her to want to live." The word imagination is a word of no boundaries in our internal view of the world and how we may walk within. The quote from the first paragraphs establishes the doctors understanding of not imagination but belief. Imagination is an awesome tool of success, but by itself represents the early steps of any journey. Success stories always have their "Old Behrman" but these characters are rarely placed in the story of success. These people or really the belief of one's self, if we step out from behind the metaphor, bring along the courage needed for success. This is a messy place. A strong imagination will carry us but so far. The courage to traverse what the imagination shows us is the moral of the story. We all have found ourselves at the beginning of a journey there fore i know we have all found ourselves in the counting of leaves and fell prey to darkness. What brings us from this counting of leaves? This is determined by how you interpret "Old Behrman" My interpretation; "Johnsy" had developed a world view of "Mr. Pneumonia"; "Old Behrman" believed he could make a difference. Replace "Old Behrman" with your Spiritual Leaders name. Reread the story. Forgive me Ali Anani if have moved between the lines of your post.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #16

#18
One thing common among your comments dear CityVP Manjit is that they get me so absorbed to respond. This personal comment struck me deep. I pauses and paused reading it and how an imagination brings more imaginations. I am still pondering on "Once we know how it used to be and now how it is - it is time to stop and appreciate - because we need massive amounts of imagination simply to empower appreciation". Imagination and appreciation- what a wonderful thought this is. I appreciate your comment and I am empowered to look back in my life and how my parents raised eight children al with PhD credentials. That was the imagination of my parents who empowered their children to achieve the imagination of the parents. Genuine imagination gets carried over by the generations. Thank you for stirring my memories, empowering them and bringing a tear into my eye dear Mnjit.

Sara Jacobovici

منذ 7 سنوات #15

Part 2/2 Then there is this example of the power of "imagine": “It was June 2006. Wimbledon was on, and in a headline-stealing study, Adrian Owen, a neuro-scientist, took fMRI scans of a 23-year-old woman in a vegetative state while he asked her to imagine playing tennis and walking through the rooms of her house. When healthy, conscious adults imagine playing tennis, they consistently show activation in a region of the motor cortex called the supplementary motor area, and when they think about navigating through a house, they generate activity in the parahippocampal gyrus, right in the centre of the brain. The woman, who had been unresponsive for five months after a traffic accident, had strikingly similar brain activation patterns to healthy volunteers who were imagining these activities, proving, in Owen's mind, that she was conscious.” Thank you Ali Anani for this important discussion. We tend to put more value and power in our ability to think when the irony is that we wouldn't have been able to develop thinking without first having had the means to imagine.

Sara Jacobovici

منذ 7 سنوات #14

Part 1/2 Your work creates the environment in which imagination can take flight Ali Anani. I consider imagination as the unique ability that separates us from all other life forms. From the place of imagination we can "speak" the questions, "hear" the answers, "see" the solutions, experience the movements across time and space. Rhonda Byrne’s 2006 book The Secret the Law of Attraction, popularized the theory that says: “What we think about, we bring about.” It’s the idea that we can attract anything we want into our lives by visualizing our desired results. But I see this as just a two dimensional representation of imagination. The paradox that you describe Dr. Ali comes from the restricted use of our innate ability. And so we do not come up with those solutions until we make use of creativity as a means through which to return to engaging our imagination to achieve those results. When sports psychology first started being popular a few decades ago, athletes were taught how to visualize and imagine themselves moving before actually performing the moves. Each time this was done, the athlete was able to fulfill the necessary physical requirements of that sport.

CityVP Manjit

منذ 7 سنوات #13

My parents endured ordeal and sacrifice - massive sacrifices to deal with shady agents in the 1950's and an unsure future because of just one thing, their imagination was for the success of their children, to give us a better life. When they arrived in England there was more sacrifice because their labour was needed to do the jobs the English did not want to do, in the time Harold MacMillan cited as "we have never had it so good" - whereas he forgot to add to that immigrant labour was filling in for the jobs that were vacated by economic success. So my parents worked through meat factories and foundries and saved to have their own home. A few years ago, I had my feet up watching television and my mother got angry with me "don't you see that there is work to do in the house". I looked at her and said "mother, did you not dream for your children to be free of hardship and suffering, to not live out the life the difficult and harrowing life of a village farmer, so that your children good be free?". In that moment she began laughing and laughing and laughing. I had hit a truth but the reality of that truth was the absurdity of her oldest child not having a care in the world. Once we know the story of how we got from point A to point B, it can change the imagination of how we have arrived to point C. Then the imagination is treasure what has been built. In our case an incredible and wonderful home, built on the blood, sweat and toil of sacrifice - and the imagination marries blessings - and as that movie Jack Nicholson stars - this moment becomes a question "Is this as good as it gets?". Our stories about success pale in wisdom to taking stock of appreciation. Once we know how it used to be and now how it is - it is time to stop and appreciate - because we need massive amounts of imagination simply to empower appreciation. We can destroy this moment with striving and visions of grandeur or we can be happily humbled.

Mohammed Abdul Jawad

منذ 7 سنوات #12

#15
debasish majumder Aha...'Last Leaf'...the story by O. Henry. With this, you've reminded my good school days. It's an inspiring story.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #11

#15
I bow in respect to your wonderful comment dear debasish majumder to your comment. I am sure they too shall explore it in a greater depth. May be you weave a poem around this story, Deabsish.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #10

#12
Great addition Paul Walters. Yes, we need to be risk-taker to succeed. Success without taking risk to realize dreams and beautify imagination is simply a remote possibility.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #9

#8
There are two nuggets of wisdom in your valuable comment dear Mohammed Sultan. The first one is " gives enough justifications to see the status quo as more dangerous than launching into the unknown". I love this thinking and yes freezing ourselves means no movement and this in reality means advancing to the rear. Your second wisdom is "People often resist change because they lack imagination and fear any change". This is a powerful one because people sees the present much nicer and safer than the future. Imagination brightens the future if is healthy. It makes the future brighter and therefore a desirable outcome. Again, I repeat what I wrote to Devesh Bhatt- if I were to re-title this buzz I would choose "Invest in your imagination". This is in agreement with what you wrote in your comment "Resorting to our imagination is always a proper investment". I simply enjoyed your comment immensely dear Mohammed.

Paul Walters

منذ 7 سنوات #8

Ali Anani Dreams coupled with imagination and spiced with risk are the recipes for success

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #7

#10
Based on your comment dear Devesh Bhatt if I were to change the title of this buzz I would title it as "Invest in your imagination". Do it Devesh and you shall find ways to realize them. You are able to do it.

Devesh 🐝 Bhatt

منذ 7 سنوات #6

Why wait for a conducive environment? Isnt imagination about making the best of whats available? This post will draw people whom i would enjoy connecting with. I have a dream too. This post is inspiring, just have to figure out investments now :)

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #5

#7
You know dear debasish majumder you bring back so many personal issues with your comment.I shall reveal one example. All my adulthood I was dreaming of becoming a citizen of a super country. One day I was invited as a distinguished lecturer to this country. I was offered citizenship, but I have never applied for it. SOmetimes we may realize our imaginations and when they become almost real we reject them. This is another side of the paradox of imagination. I appreciate your stirring many imaginations that I thought were dead. They aren't.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #4

#5
Yes, I agree again with you on my buzzes and others and I find his comments always constructive and solidifying. I hope he would keep commenting.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #3

#3
Agree with you . I am not surprised that you make your "own upward growth" because you enrich us always with your comments. Thank you dear Mohammed.

Mohammed Abdul Jawad

منذ 7 سنوات #2

Yep...imagery is always rewarding! When creativity takes in tools of imagination, and becomes ready for novice ideas, then there’s practicality of innovation in the implementation of ideas. Truly, when innovation becomes visible and ideas get translated into realities, then that’s the sign where personality takes a considerate leap for its own upward growth.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #1

#1
Thank you for your comment. Dreaming needs action to become real. we may dream and dream, but at one point we need to act creatively. We want the combination of imagination-creativity-action to work together at one point of time.

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