The vision quest is a rite of passage ritual found in almost every tradition, culture and religion throughout the world. This rite of passage marks the transition between childhood and full acceptance into society as an adult. The ceremony of the vision quest is one of the most universal and ancient means to find spiritual guidance and purpose. The vision quest is a turning point in life taken to find oneself and the intended spiritual and life direction.
You don’t have to be a youth of an indigenous culture to take a vision quest. You don’t need a traditional ceremony, sweat lodge, long fasting periods or day long trips into nature to use the power of a vision to better your life. You have already begun your life journey and where you are today is a reflection of your past and present vision. But rest assured, the best is yet to come.
I like to think a vision quest is simply an imaginative journey to discover something that does not currently exist in our lives. A vision quest is a futuristic journey into a world of infinite possibilities limited only by the extent of our imagination. You can take this journey anytime you like. A person who is able to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom is called a visionary.
Visionaries are people who have a clear vision of what the future will bring. A vision can be political, social, spiritual, artistic, scientific or technological in nature. One quality of a visionary is he has a vivid imagination. The most successful visionaries of our time spent their lives following their dreams and sought to bring them into reality.
For example, the great artist Michelangelo said, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” Nelson Mandela clearly held a positive vision of a racially harmonious South Africa during his 28 years in jail and helped bring it into reality peacefully, to the amazement of the world. Humorist Mark Twain said, “You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”
Everyone has the ability and capacity to tap into their visionary and creative genius to create an abundant and fulfilling life. The following acronym for vision is designed to provide you some key ideas on how to unlock your visionary powers:
Visualize — Use your imagination to create a clear picture or image of the future. Put yourself in this picture and see everything as you want it to be.
Intention — Create a clear and concise intention for all you want to be, do and have. Intention is the starting point for fulfilling your needs whether for health, financial, relation-ships, spiritual awakening or love.
Senses — Fuel your vision with passion, joy and love. Use all your sensory faculties to bring your vision alive. Speak, feel, hear, smell, intuit and taste your vision. Integration — Align your core values, purpose, mission and goals to your vision. Embrace your uniqueness and create a vision that will utilize all your natural gifts and talents, even ones yet to be discovered fully.
Optimistic — Hold a positive view and feeling of the events and conditions you expect to see in your vision. Believe and have faith and your vision will materialize.
Now — See your vision as something that already exists or is happening at the present time or moment. Sense how you would feel to be living your vision today.
Tony Dungy, former NFL football player and coach, describes vision this way, “The first step toward creating an improved future is developing the ability to envision it. Vision will ignite the fire of passion that fuels our commitment to do whatever it takes to achieve excellence. Only vision allows us to transform dreams of greatness into the reality of achievement through human action. Vision has no boundaries and knows no limits. Our vision is what we become in life.”
Each of us has a unique voice, a song we must sing, a vision we must create. Each of us has the capacity to contribute joyfully, making the world a better place. Are you ready to step into your vision quest?
For more information, contact Scott Whitelaw at scott@scottwhitelaw.com or visit www.scottwhitelaw.com.
