From the author: The previous article was devoted to the fact that illusions hinder our growth and development, mostly due to the fact that we hold on to them without knowing it. This publication will discuss the positive power of our illusions. While the heart is still fueled by desires, the mind retains illusions. F. Chateaubriand In the last article we talked about how illusions hinder our growth and development, especially when we hold on to them without knowing it. Since then, I caught myself thinking that the topic of illusions began to emerge more often in my life. And from a completely different, positive side. I decided to talk about this in more detail in this article. Everyone who goes to the gym sets some goal for themselves. This could be, for example, to build muscle mass or lose excess fat. And, of course, it’s also about communicating, sharing problems with others, getting to know someone. Although, I think that there can be a great variety of goals: to escape from work/family/relatives, to show off, or, for example, “simply because it is necessary and useful.” I saw a variety of representatives of all these points. I’ll be honest, I myself intended to increase my muscle mass by going to the gym. I even set for myself the weight to which I want to “grow.” It’s no secret that during such exercises strange things can happen with weight. It can either increase or decrease. This is roughly what happened to me: sometimes plus, sometimes minus, although on average the weight remained at the same level. I made some changes to my training program and diet, but no noticeable changes were added. I then decided to increase the intensity of the program and nutrition to get some results. Oddly enough, the opposite effect began to appear - the weight began to decrease. It seems good, you get slimmer and slimmer, but in fact it turns out that the goal you set for yourself is further and further away. The efforts I put in dissipate without a trace, like a plume of smoke from an airplane. Knowing that the opposite effect is part of the journey (as I wrote about in the article “I am beginning to change, but something is pulling me back”), I continued to persevere and go ahead. There was a feeling that increasing the intensity of training and nutrition gave completely the opposite result. Since I worked out without a coach, there could be many reasons for not achieving what I wanted. I could perform some exercises poorly, engage in so-called “cheating” (from the English cheat - to deceive, be cunning), incorrectly combine different types of loads, not rest enough between workouts, eat at the wrong time, eat incorrectly, etc. . But, apparently, I did not make any such serious mistakes, and the weight continued to fall. Finally, strange things began to happen. I got slim almost to the “school” level, but for some reason I stopped fitting into my usual suit. Having found the reason that the latter apparently sat down after taking it to the dry cleaners, I did not attach much importance to this fact. The weight loss continued. “Maybe something with the scales?” - Vague suspicions began to creep into me. But the voice of reason was inexorable: “These are good, high-quality Japanese scales. What could be wrong with them?” When the weight became completely “indecently” low, I decided to take out my old scales to compare their readings with the new Japanese ones, which I trusted. Seeing the number on the old scales, my surprise knew no bounds... It was the same weight that I had set for myself as the goal of my studies. Even more surprising was that the difference with the readings of the new scales was as much as 12 kilograms! All this time I did not even suspect that I was taking incorrect readings from the scales as true. I considered myself 12 kilograms slimmer)) I fell into the trap of illusion, which, ironically, did not restrain my growth, but, on the contrary, contributed to it. To be honest, I didn’t immediately believe the old scales. My first thought was that they are also faulty, but they are shown with an overestimate. OnlyHaving weighed myself in the gym on scales “with weights”, which I could definitely trust, I realized that the old ones had not let me down after all. If we draw conclusions from the story described above, then we can “rediscover” the well-known truth that everything is determined by our By faith. Sometimes it seems that faith is based on a seemingly empty place. This effect is also known as “placebo,” when the patient is cured by taking pills that actually have no medicinal basis. I managed to experience something similar in this story with scales. I would like to end the article with another story-parable about the miraculous power of illusions. “One man decided to start his own business and became an entrepreneur. But, due to his indecision and constant fears, he fell deeply into debt: suppliers demanded payment for goods, creditors demanded repayment of loans, things were heading towards bankruptcy and he did not understand how to get out of these debts and become successful. He was sitting on the lawn in the park, thinking about what could save his business from bankruptcy. Suddenly an old man came up to him and said: “I noticed something is bothering you.” The distressed businessman told him about his situation, to which the old man said: “I think I can help you!” Having asked the entrepreneur what his name was, he took out a checkbook from his inside pocket and immediately wrote out a check in his name and gave it to the entrepreneur with the words: “Take this check. This money will help you. And we will meet exactly one year later in the same place at the same time and you will give me this money.” Then the old man turned and left without saying anything more. Looking at his hands, the businessman saw in them a check for $1,000,000. The check was signed “John Rockefeller.” At that time, John Rockefeller was the richest man in the world and the entrepreneur knew about it. “Now I can solve all my problems in an instant!” - he was delighted. But instead of cashing the check and paying off his debts, the entrepreneur put the check in the safe. Just the thought of having that check gave him the strength, courage and determination to create a way to save his business. The confidence and optimism that the thought of the $1,000,000 check gave him allowed the entrepreneur to make profitable deals. He was able to make several large and profitable sales. Within a few months of successful work, he paid off all his debts, returned money to creditors, brought his enterprise to a new level and began to earn big money. Exactly a year later, he took out a check from the safe, which the old man had given him without using it, and returned to the very park in which the elderly man handed him this check. This old man was already waiting for him in this park. The businessman returned the check to the old man, thanking him, and as soon as he began to tell the old man his story, a nurse ran up to them and briskly took the old man by the arm, saying: “I had to run after him again!” I hope he didn't bother you? He's a little out of his mind! He always runs away from the hospital to this park and tells everyone that he is John Rockefeller. The entrepreneur was shocked! After all, throughout the year he made big risky deals, bought and sold with the confidence that he had a check for $1 million in his safe and that, in case of urgent need, this amount would help him out. At that moment the entrepreneur realized that It was not money or a check that turned his life around and helped him pay off his debts and achieve success! This was all only thanks to his new confidence, which gave him the strength and courage to achieve everything that he now has. As an illustration for the theme of illusions, I could not resist posting a photo of a dress that has been making waves on the Internet in recent days. The mother of the bride bought it and sent a photo to the newlyweds. As it turned out, the bride and groom see the dress differently, which is why they got into an argument. And not only them, the same thing was noticed by social network users to whom they sent the photo. Some people see the dress as blue with black lace stripes, others as white and gold.