Was Vincent Van Gogh “too beautiful for this world?”
I don’t think so.
He was someone who was functional when he painted –
but at no other time. He had no idea how to
sell his work. He had no idea how to get along with
people. His mind was filled with little more than negative
images, not only of himself, but of the world at large.
Salvador Dail, on the other hand, sold his paintings all
over the world WHILE he was living. He connected with
people while he was alive. He was engaging and alive in
virtually everything he did. When he spoke, people listened.
Dali was a good friend of Dr. Maxwell Maltz. He was also
a fan of Psycho-Cybernetics. So much so that he created
a painting for Dr. Maltz and gave it to him as a gift. This
same painting appears on the cover of The New Psycho-
Cybernetics – the revised edition featuring Dr. Maltz and
Dan Kennedy – available at amazon.com.
What did Dali understand that Van Gogh didn’t?- not to
mention all the other starving artists out there.
First, Dali understood that starvation is not glamorous.
He understood that there is no such thing as being “too
beautiful for this world.” You either get what you want
out of life or you don’t.
Second, Dali understood that there are two orientations
toward life: One moves toward the sun – one toward
darkness. He understood that you can sail on a sea of
calm waters with a helmsman on board your vessel – or
you can choose a directionless life, floundering on a raging
sea of frustration and failure – with no helmsman in the
vessel.
Third, Dali understood that you can view yourself as
valuable and what you do as valuable. Or you can
view yourself as unimportant.
Fourth, Dali realized that you can see yourself as larger than
life – or you can see yourself as no larger than a small potato.
Last, Dali understood that it wasn’t talent that caused success. He
realized it had far more to do with something called “self-image.”
He understood that talent is everywhere – but most with talent have
negative images of the possibilities that life offers – if you’ll open
yourself to them.
Dali became larger than life, WHILE on this earth – and afterward.
Dail’s success began on the inside; he pictured more than what he
painted on a canvas. Dali’s mind was filled with images of success –
so he moved toward those images and received them.
Van Gogh’s mind was filled with the negative – and he got what he
thought about. It was only when his negative mind was removed
from the equation that his paintings sold. If he were still alive, he’d
still be starving because that’s how he thought of himself.
Van Gogh got from life what he pictured – but didn’t paint.
So did Dali.
In your own life you have a choice to make: To be like Dali – or
Van Gogh. One was a prosperous artist – the other starved. Both
had immense talent – but talent doesn’t make for a successful life.
The key to greatness lies in the way that you think; the way you think
about your life and what you want from it.
Keep your mental pictures off the things you don’t want – and make
sure you never add Van Gogh like negative emotion to the things you
don’t want. Otherwise you’re inviting failure – even tragedy.
Picture the good things you want with happy, outlandish, outrageous,
Dali-like emotion – then stand back and observe these things becoming
part of your reality.
Best,
P.S. Follow the same type of thinking used by the great Salvador
Dali. Sail through
life on calm waters with a helmsman in control of your life. You can
discover how
when you go to http://www.psycho-cybernetics.com/zrlcourse.html