How to Have a Stress Free Holiday
Knowing exactly what you want in life is the key to getting it.
Treasure-mapping is simply the process of visualizing exactly
what you want. The clearer you can see it as a reality, the
sooner it manifests. The magical part about treasure-mapping is
that you don't have to know where the desired object or
opportunity will come from. Gifts, contest prizes, sudden
opportunities are typical outcomes.
The actual process is simple: tear out color pictures in
magazines or catalogs and rubber cement them to half a sheet of
poster board.
Currently I use a sketch book that I constantly add to page
after page. Sometimes I am not even sure what I am searching
for, but in the process of looking, I get clearer when an image
seems to call to me.
Here are some of the things I have successfully treasure-mapped:
New house (complete with gazebo)
New job, change in career, and career opportunities
Vacations (including white-water rafting and a hot air balloon
ride
Clients and audiences
Lifestyle, romance, jewelry and clothes
Art, dishes, collectibles, cars, etc. (This is the easy stuff)
My husband!
Family relationships
Variations, tips, and ideas:
1) Each New Year, treasure-map what you want the year to look
like. Focus on opportunities, desired lifestyle changes, etc.
This is a tradition for our whole family. I do the half page
treasure-map at this time. I might add that children end up
cutting out pictures of cute animals; they have a hard time with
future goal setting. More on that later.
2) Relationships: To treasure map a spouse or special companion,
concentrate on finding pictures that represent what you want the
relationship to look like: how you want to be treated, what you
will do together, what values you would share, etc. Avoid
treasure-mapping a specific physical body (after all, they are
just models in the pictures and they spend incredible amounts of
time in the gym.)
3) Physical changes: If you want to treasure-map an ideal body
for yourself, concentrate on the active, healthy lifestyle that
your body would need to have. I've even pasted my own face on
the body of a woman doing aerobics. It was so believable to me
that it melted the resistance I was feeling at the time.
4) Words: Include your own name, cut out of type, and a phrase
or two also in type, that motivate you. Beware of too many
words, however, as it is the visual image that your mind finds
so powerful.
5) When the treasure map is finished, bless it. Some people like
to add a picture that represents God as their source for
everything. I write a little prayer on the back: "Thanks you,
God, for this or something better for my highest good."
6) Invite friends to bring their scissors, glue, and magazines
for a treasure map party! Treasure-map with your spouse, and
your children.
Children age 10 and up can treasure-map their short term goals.
You can make suggestions, such as cutting out pictures of Scout
badges they would like to earn, or a place for a family vacation
that summer, or a pet they would like to take care of, or a
specific item for Christmas. (Caution: a kid with a toy catalog
goes beserk!)
Challenge a teenager to treasure map his or her in life in ten
years. That gives them a grounded sense of thinking strategies
toward preparation (what courses to take, etc.)