Believing is hearing

I have a goal I'm looking to reach by summer, and part of that entails a nightly trip to the gym. It's cold tonight, 7 degrees with the wind-chill, but I ventured out nonetheless.

When I arrived, I took off my coat, gloves and scarf, and put on my iPod. I climbed aboard the elliptical trainer, the music started playing then suddenly, it stopped.

No.

NO MORE BATTERY, it read, PLUG INTO CHARGER NOW.

No.

It was 11:00 P.M., freezing outside and I had a major work-out in front of me. How would I possibly do it without music?

This is like death I said to myself, but then I had a thought. It's bitter cold, that's the problem! Maybe if I warm up the iPod it will come back to life. So I stuck it into in the pocket of my sweatshirt and held it there. I pulled it out a minute later, selected a song and it played... for about ten seconds until it shut off again. The battery was really dead.

But then I had more thoughts; thoughts about beliefs, the nature of reality and quantum physics! I thought how badly I needed my music, and that if somehow I could wipe out, not only the knowledge but the belief I had that the battery was dead, I might be able to recreate what was happening physically in the moment!

I reached for the iPod again, this time assuming it would work, expecting it to work, knowing it would work! I put on the headphones, turned on the music... and it played! Ten seconds passed and as the music continued, I worked out, staying far away from all thoughts and feelings related to the previous death of the battery, as well as all thoughts and feelings related to the current and apparent life of the battery! Thirty seconds passed, then forty-five minutes were behind me and every song had played just as I expected!

One step closer to the goal, I got off the machine, put on my coat, gloves and scarf, and the minute I opened the door and hit that freezing cold, that battery died one more time.