“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited; imagination encircles the world.”

Do you have dreams?

Maybe they are of getting married, having a family, a worthwhile career or being financially secure?

When we are small children, dreams are often of what we will be when we grow up. Our dreams when young can be that we can achieve anything, but as we grow up and the reality of life takes hold, dreams can slip away. Life can become mundane, fear can cause us to hold back, instead living a predictable existence and worried about the future.

There is great importance also on the accumulation of knowledge, academic success is viewed as the only way to achieve in life especially materially, but also the way to gain power and authority.

There is huge wealth to knowledge, and benefits us greatly in life. What though if this is at the expense of imagination, how can we use both to achieve our dreams?

Learned knowledge serves an important part of growing personally. Education however is a life long process and we should never stop seeking to add to our ‘toolbox’ and skills. I’ve met many individuals who have spent many years relying on knowledge they learnt when on the start of their journey, never seeking to improve on this foundation or continue to improve themselves. We can become stagnant if we don’t seek to continually improve our knowledge especially as research and understanding of life continues to change. We can in turn become boxed in by old understandings, become rigid and unyielding in our approaches.

Knowledge alone is not enough for us to grow, particularly in a personal sense.

Knowledge will always be limited in the sense that we always can learn more. Yet it is imagination that yields the greatest growth.

It is imagination that takes us to new places, that allows us to think outside the box, find new ways of doing things and adapt to change. Imagination is what captivates us, builds excitement and drives us. Imagination is what creates, think of all the stories you have read both as a child and as an adult that have been born of pure imagination!

It is imagination that dreamed of magical places, wild adventures, intriguing characters and twisting plots. It is imagination that has joined with knowledge to develop cures for illnesses that have taken loved ones, and supported new ways of treating those suffering. Imagination has driven space exploration, magnificent architecture and glorious art. Think for a minute about the imagination of michelangelo!

What can hold back our imagination? Fear!

We can believe that we are not good enough, or that we are not able to achieve the things we dream of. Fear holds imagination at bay, stunts it and suppresses it. Think about all the individuals who were told they would never reach their goals, that they would never fly, reach space or vote!

Imagination is what causes knowledge to grow, expands horizons and makes the impossible happen. It allows for exploration, seeing beyond the obvious and believing the impossible. Imagination allows for personal growth beyond the mere accumulation of knowledge.

Imagination also allows for seeing beyond material things. It sees how we can add to the world we live in and how we can be better people every day.

When it comes to You, what is holding you back reaching your dreams?

Is fear holding your imagination captive?

Are you just existing and not living?

Dreams can be many things, but they all require imagination to help our knowledge grow and our minds take flight.