INTENTION – What Will You Create?

 

“Every journey begins with the first step of articulating the intention, 

and then becoming the intention.” 

Bryant McGill, author of Voice of Reason

 

Intention is like going into a grocery store. Every time we step through the door we are greeted with shelves full of opportunity for enhanced health. And, just as many opportunities for the reverse await us as well.  We may carry good intentions through the door, but where we place our attention begets the results. Intention. We can have the best of it, but whether or not we harness and direct its power remains one of our greatest challenges.

When we walk into a grocery store we don’t often think of our intentions as having a life of their own. But they do, if we engage them properly. If you’re like me, you tend to let the power of intention slip right through your fingers. I’m distractable.  I love new shiny things. Especially ideas and new packaging on old items! They launch me forward without effort, because they excite me. But, when it comes time for knuckle skinning work, I easily let go of the power of intention. Whoosh. It vanishes.

Sustaining intention takes work.  It requires a whole new intention to feed the intention!  When we become conscious of  how the energy an intended plan works, we can use it to assist us. We can garner the forces of the universe not only to create a plan, but to bring it into reality.  Intentions must be intentionally nurtured!

STEP ONE: Harness your dream with a clear stated intention. Write it down. Understand that the clearer you envision your intention, the more energy becomes available to carry it into reality.  Use every ounce of your creativity to bring it to life both in your mind and in some form in concrete reality.

STEP TWO: Avoid leaving intentions hanging in the air. Lifeless intentions that still hang around in some form are not harmless. They have the power to suck the life out of us. So, get rid of them!

The next time you half-heartedly hope, dream or wish for something, stop. Take a breath. Put space between this thought and the future and ask yourself, “do I really want this to become a reality”? If so, form an intention. Write it down. Put it on your refrigerator or over your desk where you will see it every day. If not, let it go. Completely. Say out loud, “No, I do not want to place my energy there right now. I want to use my energy elsewhere.” Watch the notion evaporate. Let it go. Visualize it going back into the Universe for safekeeping.

STEP THREE: Just like you make a grocery list, put your intention on paper. Bring it to life in every way you can. Draw a picture. Create a dream board with all the visual details.  Research and learn everything you need to know about your intention. Keep it alive by living in the middle of the idea, not around its edges. If you want to eat strawberries instead of ice cream, live in the fresh fruit section, not the frozen food department.

When we write down what we hope to create, it doesn’t get lost in muddy mind chatter of our day to day activities.

STEP FOUR: Live in the intention and do everything you can to feed it, and let go of the outcome. Deepak Chopra reminds us to “Relinquish your rigid attachment to a specific result and live in the wisdom of uncertainty”.  Allow the power of the Universe to help you bring your dreams into reality, and the wisdom of the Universe to provide you with something different if that is what is best for you.

Have you seen the power of intention at work in your life?

 

COMING SOON: DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU DO WHAT YOU DO?

“This is how to avoid re-creating painful situations: Take the time to discover your real intention before you act. If it is to change someone or the world so that you will feel safe or better about yourself, don’t act on it, because it is an intention of fear and can create only painful consequences.”  ~ Gary Zukav

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