How Our Thoughts Shape Our Reality

Abe arrived at work a nervous wreck. A reckless and angry driver had cut him off, deliberately driven slowly to annoy him, and then yelled curses at him at the traffic light. "Let him just try that one more time, and I'll show him!" he thought to himself, picturing a violent confrontation leaving his enemy sprawled on the ground.

At the same time, Abe knew it wouldn't happen. He wasn't a violent person. Or was he? If he could think about acting violently, did that mean something?

Imagination certainly does mean something. In fact, it means a lot. Thoughts are extremely significant. Let's take one example:

On Rosh Hashanah, we pray to Hashem for a good and sweet new year. Pesach marks our leaving Egypt; Sukkot marks the miraculous protection Hashem granted us as we headed through the desert to the Land of Israel. What happened on Rosh Hashanah?

Nothing.

Well, not quite nothing. On Rosh Hashanah, our Sages tell us, Hashem thought about creating man. "Just" thought. In practice, the world was actually created in the month of Nisan, though we don't do anything special then to mark the day. It's the day when Hashem thought about creating us that is so very significant.

The Talmud states: "Thoughts of sin are worse than sin itself" (Yoma 29). Based on this teaching, the Baal Shem Tov established a foundational concept in Chassidism -- that thinking of mitzvot is greater than actually performing them. This is one of the reasons why Chassidic teachings place so much emphasis on mental preparation for any mitzvah, including prayer.

Thoughts and imagination shape our personality without us even noticing. The probability that Abe will encounter that same driver again and "pay him back" is close to zero, but the vengeful fantasies impact his character. The next time he encounters a similar situation, chances are that he won't just stew in anger but will at the very least respond with some curses of his own (and will probably end up regretting it).

If that does happen, Abe might not connect the two incidents in his mind. Most of us aren't in full control of our feelings and don't even know why we feel the way we do. Sometimes, investing a little thought will provide clarity -- at other times, we still won't be able to figure ourselves out. So what can be done?

Someone once told me the following story:

"I was 17 when this happened, studying in yeshiva. For some reason, there was a boy in my class who I couldn't stand. I couldn't figure it out. I hardly knew the boy and he'd never done anything to me. I didn't know what to do.

"Then I thought up a plan. Every night before going to sleep, I would imagine that I was driving a car and saw him waiting at a bus stop, and I would offer him a ride. I visualized this every night for a few weeks and it worked wonders! I started really liking him and we even became close friends!"

Imagination is a tool we are meant to use to elevate ourselves spiritually. The Baal Shem Tov teaches that a person is where his thoughts lie. Our imaginations form our characters -- we can transform ourselves into different people just by visualizing positive change. Let's not waste this tremendous power.