It is my intention to write something here that is helpful, powerful; maybe even inspirational to just one reader (hopefully more) however one reader will suffice because if I help one, well my job is done. That is my intention. My goal would be to get on and write a well written article which conveys the ideas of intention and why it matters. My belief is that I have managed to write and teach ideas to people many times before from experience, practical application and study. The outcome then bodes well for I have my intention, goal and belief system aligned.
There you have it, a system which we can bring into our lives every time we start the day. My advice would be to start the day with a thank you. I like to be grateful for the opportunity of a new day, now that I am getting older! Each day is a blessing, but you know none of us knows how long our lives will be, so it is up to us to live it as well and as fully as we can each day!
So, I do start with a thank you, then I set my intentions for maybe the first task of the day. If I am meeting a client, I set the intention to be professional, warm, attentive, focussed and deliver what is needed all with some lovely magic words… with ease and grace.
We want things to go smoothly. I set my goals with the client, though as I work intuitively with Spirit, they often set the goals. You get the idea though, gratitude, intention, goal, belief in the outcome. It may need resetting but that’s ok. When we are dealing with creating our lives, making choices, thinking and feeling positively it is best to break the day into sections, different activities require different intentions, goals and outcomes.
I recently spent 4 hours, yes 4 hours, sorting a household problem, interacting with a chat bot, then WhatsApp, eventually a person but my intention was to sort the problem and my goal was to see it through to its resolution.
I achieved the outcome I wanted, ridiculous it took that long, but I renewed my intention and my goal along the way and as another obstacle came up, I purposely set the next intention. This experience was draining and frustrating at times, but it reminded me of this idea of resetting intentions throughout the day.
Not all things go to plan but just because that happens, we don’t have to fold and give in and go back to our default system of reacting or giving up and not getting to the outcome. We can practice intention in the now moment, step by step and if we get into the habit of doing this it can help smooth the way towards the goal you set.
So, what happens if we don’t set intentions, create desires for our lives, make choices and oversee what happens next? Well simply we become used to being directed, feeling stuck, like we have no control over events and that leads to stress and anxiety. I am thinking of a huge phrase here ‘personal responsibility’ the kind that we all have, the responsibility to control how we approach each day and how we respond to what is placed before us.
We all have difficult relationships with some people in our lives be it partners, family, friends and bosses and sometimes those people know how to press our buttons and trigger a whole side of us we do not want to reveal or even like about ourselves. It can happen over and over until we stop it, until we intend a different interaction, until we intend to respond differently whatever that may be.
I believe we can all improve our lives by taking a moment in our day especially when things are tough to simply say “I intend this part of my day, this meeting to go well and for me to be able to do the best I can in this moment”.
We can say to ourselves “I intend to get up 5 minutes earlier so I can set my day right and not be flying out the door flustered.” Then for your morning journey “I intend to have a safe journey and arrive on time”.
More deep and spiritual intentions can be “I intend to find out about my spiritual side, to connect to the part of me that is not physical, the part that knows I am capable of great things. The part that knows I can make a difference in the world every day no matter what I am doing because I choose to respond from my true and full spiritual self.” WOW what would we achieve if we all intended this every morning?!
I love humanity, we have so much to give, and we have so much talent, so many amazing skills, and so much rich diversity. I intend to spread that mantra because the more people who believe that, well then, the more we can do supporting each other, doing our best, helping each other in reaching our full potential.
The world is not lost, the world is transforming, like all things it changes and grows and sometimes when that happens the hidden becomes seen. It can be ugly but with faith, intention and good goals we can steer the course.
That happens one life at a time, sometimes when we get our own ducks in order, offer opportunities for others to do the same, respond instead of reacting, maybe lead in a positive way by example, not by destruction, not by demanding but intending allowance of full, aligned spiritual selves to be free to intend the best for themselves and see it through and then, maybe then, we can see the way through as humankind.
Gratitude, intention, goal and belief in positive outcome are the ingredients for a good day. Resetting where needed, responding compassionately, with kindness, with thought and self-awareness.
All spiritual practices have these at their root. We can think differently, we can question our thinking. That was the foundation of what the philosopher and mathematician Descartes used as his reasoning of how we know we exist. “Ergo Cogito Sum” often translated as “I think therefore I am” or “I think therefore I exist.” It was the only certainty he could prove back in the 17th Century. Who is the one doing the thinking?
Our thoughts and therefore our intentions are the most powerful and creative part of our being. We can use them for a better life for ourselves and to improve the lives of others.
I have set my intention, dear reader, this time; only you can see whether I have achieved my goal and a positive outcome.
Article by More to Life Elder – Patricia McDowall
Article published in More to Life – Edition 66
