An important part of any mindfulness practice is becoming aware of the power of our intentions. Intentions are commitments we make to ourselves about how we want to be rather than a list of things we aim to accomplish. They are so integral to our lives that “wise intention” is one of the key steps of the Buddha’s Eightfold Path.
Oprah Winfrey maintains, “Intention is everything” because it is through our intentions, or lack of them, that we create our reality. Since intentions have the potential to enrich every area of our lives, we’ve been working on becoming more intentional in all we do.
When the two of us started working together, we hit it off right away and enjoyed being colleagues, so when we realized we wanted to move our relationship beyond our day jobs, we set that and other meaningful intentions for how we wanted our friendship to be. We promised to always be honest with and supportive of each other while also declaring our alliance a drama- and judgment-free zone. We didn’t know we were making intentions at the time, but those shared agreements set the trajectory for a reciprocal bond that has enriched both our lives beyond measure and led to the formation of Mindful Life Connections.
We would all benefit from setting intentions for our most important personal and professional relationships, and we form one by asking, how do I want to show up in this particular relationship?
When intention is missing, we can find ourselves moving mindlessly through life, living on autopilot, or causing unintentional harm. How many times have we said, “I don’t remember anything about the ride here” or “what did she actually say”? Whether we were caught up in our thoughts or otherwise distracted, those things may happen because we didn’t set an intention for the experience and, as a result, may have ended up missing it.
Although we can and usually do make intentions every New Year, setting them for smaller segments of time can aid us in creating the lives we’d like to live without feeling that almost inevitable sense of failure every February because we didn’t set the incremental intentions that would help us bring into reality the new and improved person we resolved to become.
We can set an intention every single morning for how we want the day ahead to be, and we can set an intention before any conversation, any encounter, or any experience great or small.
Intentions don’t have to be complicated; in fact, simpler is often better. When we intend to really listen and make people feel valued, we can affect them in ways we never anticipated. When we intend to give people the benefit of the doubt, we can cause a ripple effect of goodwill. When we intend to nourish our bodies, we make choices that could lead to a longer, more vibrant life.
The classic Vedic text, the Upanishads, puts it this way: “You are what your deepest desire is. As your desire is, so is your intention. As your intention is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.”
How are your intentions are creating your desired destiny?
Author: Terry Shamblin
Mindful Life Connections 