What are your fondest memories of 2017? (Yes, 2017- creating a future memory)

“Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.” — Khalil Gibran

I know what you are thinking, ‘you can’t have a memory of something that hasn’t happened yet.’  This is not about time warping, but it is about playing a trick with your mind.  Scientists have demonstrated that our minds are not very good at separating reality from imagination.  Our bodies will physically react simply to our thoughts.  You know if you think about something embarrassing your cheeks begin turning red.  If you think about something upsetting your heart beats faster.  Our mind is a powerful tool and we can choose to use that tool to set some new intentions for the New Year.
     In Solution-Focused Therapy there is a powerful technique called A Letter from the Future.  To do this, the client is asked to relax and envision themselves one year from now.  They have gotten through the difficulty or challenge that they are currently facing and are doing well.  The client is asked to feel that future self and to use their senses to experience what that future self, who is wiser and happier, now knows.  They are then asked to begin writing a letter from the future self where the future self describes where they are now at and what they are doing.  The future self describes the most important steps they have taken to get to that point.  It also offers wise advice and kind words of encouragement.
Our imagination is a powerful tool, but often we use it to create future memories of worst-case scenarios.  This New Years, take a few moments to use your imagination and create some fond memories of 2017 that you can’t wait to experience!