What's Your Intention?

Do you set intentions? 

To be honest, this is a spiritual practice that I love and yet sometimes completely forget. 

What can I say? I’m human! 

There are so many ways to stay connected to spirit, source, or the divine that I am sometimes overwhelmed by my own curiosity to seek new practices for this connection.

However, when I notice that something in my life is “out of whack” I realize I haven’t been setting my intentions.

When I don’t set an intention, it’s like getting into my car and trying to get somewhere I’ve never been without putting the address into my maps app.

How am I going to get there if I have no idea where I’m going?

Yet we do this all the time in our lives. 

We decide we want to change something or do something new, but we continue to do everything exactly the same as before we made this decision (aka the definition of insanity)! 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done this. Seriously. 😖 

Exactly what is an intention?

Intentions are energetic decisions that drive the creation of a desired outcome. They inform the Universe (or God, source, whatever you call the divine) of the desire you wish to be fulfilled.

Here are some guidelines to setting potent intentions.

First, they must always be stated in the present tense. Why? Because we only have this moment! The past and future are mere thought forms. They don’t actually exist. So it makes no sense to intend to do something differently in the past or future.

For example, let’s say you’re invited to a party and you know there are going to be some people there that have hurt you in the past. You’re dreading this potential encounter. You’re wondering where you can hide or how you can possibly avoid them the entire time. But, of course, you can’t, and now you’re face-to-face with your own personal devil. You try to make some sort of small talk and get out of this situation asap. OR you set an intention and say to yourself as you’re walking into the party, “My intention is to see the humanity and beauty in every person I encounter here.” Do you see how instead of dreading coming in contact with these people you’ve set yourself up energetically to be open to seeing them in a new light?

Second, they must be stated in the positive. “My intention is to not get drunk” is impossible to accomplish because the sub-conscious (which is the mind we are working with here) doesn’t hear negatives. So instead, you could say, “My intention is to honor my body with healthy choices today.” 

Third, they must be based on a positive quality you wish to experience. Some examples of positive qualities are: connection, open-heartedness, acceptance, and creation. Examples: I intend to connect with my loved ones in peace and full acceptance. And My intention is to be open to a new awareness around this situation. Or I intend to create a safe space for all to be heard and validated.

I suggest you "try on" one or more of the intentions above to see how it feels and then branch out to writing your own. Setting intentions isn’t the easiest spiritual practice to get started. It takes some practice to get out of simply wishing for a desired outcome and positively stating what quality we truly want to experience instead. Yet if we’re serious about wanting to live a fulfilling, purpose-filled life, there’s no better way to get there than to activate our spiritual GPS to keep us moving in the direction we desire.