Hello Friends,
We are well into the second half of 2024 and I've been thinking a lot about this quote by Wayne Dyer, "Your intention creates your reality."
How intentionally have you been living?
Or, are you like most of us whose days and decisions get lost in the busy-ness of routines, the 'must-dos', and the distractions that keep us from doing the introspective work we need to do in order to actually spend our days living intentionally?
Here are my thoughts on intentions and how we can begin today to make choices that bring our present into sharp focus so that our tomorrows are filled with more of what we want.
Intention is often mistaken for a wish or a hope.
Setting an intention is often a practice reserved for New Year’s Eve or before a birthday or other milestone event.
The true meaning of the word ‘intention’ is what we plan for and what we intend to do.
It sounds obvious but how many of us have set an intention but have treated it more as a wish we leave to the Universe to do the work of making it our reality?
The Power of Intent
For example, we could say our intention is to be kind and loving to those around us. However, if our words and actions don't reflect our intentions then our reality won't either.
If our intention reflects our reality and our reality isn't what we wished or hoped for, we must look at what we are focusing on to create what we are experiencing every day.
What we focus on, whether it is an emotion or a situation or a belief about ourselves, will dictate how we act.
When we focus on what others are doing, we are distracting ourselves from our own goals.What we focus on and how we act will determine our everyday experiences.
Shifting Focus
Shifting focus towards all that we have and away from all that we don’t, allows us to see that our life is truly abundant.
Shifting focus towards the work we need to do on ourselves and away from what others are doing to us or what they are doing for themselves, allows us to clean our own inner worlds instead of feeling frustrated because others aren’t paying attention to us.
So if our intention is to create a life of abundance, we first need our words and actions to reflect what we have.
Surround Yourself with Voices of Support
Surround yourself with people who remind you who you are: someone who is worthy of a life filled with love, joy, and fulfilment. We need these reminders because oftentimes who believe we are is anything but.
Having the reinforcements in the form of trusted souls who see you, really see you; having the daily practices that challenge what you think and strengthen the beliefs that hold you up instead of tear you down can become the sturdy scaffolding we build around us to keep us intact—even when we feel fragile and vulnerable.
With that scaffolding, we will begin to see even our fragility and vulnerability as part of us and a source of our authenticity. Surround yourself with people who remind you that you are powerful and deserving just for being you. And if you find you don't have that circle around you, make that your intention to start building your tribe one person at a time by being open to meeting people and by being that supportive voice for someone else.
Aligning Actions with Intentions
If your intention is to be loved, act with love.
If your intention is to feel rich, act with generosity of your heart and spirit.
If your intention is to be successful, act with mindfulness so that you make choices that are aligned with your values.
If your intention is to live a life that is true to you, act with determination to stay true to your heart.
Have physical reminders near you, with you, or on you, to help you shift your focus and act in accordance with your intention. Photographs, post-it notes with supportive words, even healthy and real social media accounts are great tools to reflect back at you what it is you're working towards.
Embrace Your True Self
Is it easy? Well, actually yes!It's only complicated, hard, and uncomfortable because we're listening to the voices of others in our head; we're imagining what others may think; we're worried about what might happen; we're burdened by the beliefs that don't serve us anymore; and we're not listening to that part of us that is crying for attention because we're afraid of diving into a part of us that we want to keep buried. The frustrations come because we're fighting against ourselves. We're going against our own voice.
When you decide to do what is right for you.When you act with your truest and most authentic self in mind. After all, you're the only one who is in control of your life.
As Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals writes, "If you try to find time for your most valued activities by first dealing with all the other important demands on your time, in the hope that there’ll be some left over at the end, you’ll be disappointed...The experience of being alive consists of nothing other than the sum of everything to which you pay attention.”
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