If you are a member of my generation, you most likely remember the song The Cover of the Rolling Stone which premiered in late 1972. Written by Shel Silverstein and performed by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, the song was intended to be a parody of the lifestyle of rock singers. However, upon hearing this classic hit a few days ago I realized that it was a wonderful lesson in the power of visualization or, as Dr. Wayne Dyer often says, “thinking from the end.” This forward thinking viewpoint shows up in the first verse of the song where the lyrics declare:
Well, we’re big rock singers
We’ve got golden fingers
And we’re loved everywhere we go (that sounds like us)
We sing about beauty and we sing about truth
At ten thousand dollars a show (right)
Even though these lyrics most likely did not reflect the band’s objective reality at that time in history, they set the intention and stated the objective as a reality. This is a practice often recommended by life coaches and spiritual teachers but seldom understood by western students. Western students tend to confuse the power of visualization and the spoken word with wishful thinking and fantasy because they lack a critical ingredient – action. In order for the Universe to guide you to your goal, you have to be moving! Simply saying something does not make it so, and is properly identified as wishful thinking or fantasy. However, with the combination of word and deed, we find the true power of transformation. By stating the goal as an objective reality and declaring that reality to the universe, we not only set the intention, we also commit to the vision. This, in turn, animates our intention which, guided by our supporting action, manifests into objective reality. In the case of Dr. Hook, they produced and preformed a parody song that although written to poke fun at the lifestyle of rock singers, set their intention and notified the Universe that they intended to be on the cover of the Rolling Stone – a long shot to say the least for a little known band who, in 1972, could claim only one hit to their four year career. However, by combining intention and action, they animated forces that took them to the number 6 spot on the U.S. rock charts and landed them on the cover of the Rolling Stone on March 29th, 1973…three months after the release of The Cover of the Rolling Stone.
David T. Lang, a metaphysician, Rosicrucian, and Freemason, has been involved in metaphysics and energy healing for over 25 years. He has been a member of the National Writers Union since 1994 and was elected to the Steering Committee of the union’s Washington DC Local in 2005. He has lectured internationally on numerous topics and has written for technical, educational, and government publications since 1983. His public technical articles and editorials have appeared in Security Management, SC Magazine’s Info Security News, and Business, Education, and Technology Journal. David is a contributing author for The Computer Security Handbook, 5th Edition (2008) and is under contract to write the Overseeing the Compliance of Operational Security domain for the official CISSP-ISSMP common body of knowledge study guide (2009).
Since spending the summer teaching energy healing in 2004, David’s writing and lectures have included subtle energy related subjects. He is a regular contributor to and associate editor of the Virginia Masonic Herald and administers the online discussion group The Metaphysical Mind. He is currently working on the book Energy Language and planning an additional book entitled What is Light? along with other works in human development and healing. David has published a number of individual poems over the years and is working on a poetry compilation entitled Life’s Labyrinth: Poems for the Broken Road. For more information visit www.PositivePower.us.