The Battle Within

I recently heard a striking phrase I believe Deepak Chopra said: “the most productive use of your imagination is creativity; the least productive use of your imagination is anxiety!” Regardless of who said it, this is what I hear: We have an imagination, one that can either be our enemy, conjuring the worst about any given situation or person, or one that can lead us with curiosity towards discovery of the best, rather than a focus on or assumptions of the worst. Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of deciding to imagine something better, and then, with all our energy, we can strive in a new direction. Or, we can follow well-worn paths of fear and anxiety. In the song "Mean," Taylor Swift wrote, "Somebody made you cold. But the cycle ends right now, 'Cause you can't lead me down that road." The well-worn and familiar paths we continue on, and the cycles of hate, anger and fear that are all to familiar lead us nowhere and need to end. The cycle ends right now, 'cause you can't lead me down that road.