Saturday, February 27, 2010

Just place your intention there and follow it. All else will follow.


Goals, aspirations, desires, hopes, dreams will come to nothing without the support of one's intention. Intention is the quality of having a purpose in mind. It is where the inner world of thought, ethics, principles, emotions, values and the outer world of action, motion, contact and communication meet. In the intentional person, these two worlds are in alignment and being guided with a just hand that monitors the tension between the two. It is a delicate act that requires vigilance, focus, thought, reflection. It is no easy task to follow ones intention, but it is entirely rewarding. Synergy and synchronicity are the rewards, a meaningful and spiritual life the benefits.
The opposite of intention is unconscious which is operating from a state of imbalance. Either one's inner life is steering the decision making process or the outer world is pushing one around from moment to moment. The individual is a victim in either case and sadly can only glimpse the potential in life, but hardly attain it. There are many people in this world whose circumstances are so extreme it is almost an impossibility to be intentional. I intentionally use the word almost as nothing is impossible under the power of our intention.
A vast majority of the people living in the Western world are living in a moment of unprecedented luxury and health. It is a ripe time in which we could collectively utilize our intention to create a balanced life. We have created a world with unlimited potential. And yet, we betray ourselves. We choose lives and lifestyles that do not align with our values and principles. We find ourselves forced to make decisions that make us uncomfortable in the workplace, supermarket, shops, our homes. People crave meaning and yet we are handicapped in providing it for each other.
We create problems because we lack intention. For example, we have created diabetes epidemic in the process of making food more accessible and created climate change in our pursuit of economic growth. No one intended to make these problems, but the pursuit of outer luxury made us blind to the messages and wisdom of the inner life. We have built a culture that collectively operates without balance and denies us purpose.
A meaningful and purposeful life is our birthright.
What kind of world would we live in if we all followed our intention? If we all actively defined and relentlessly pursued what gives us purpose? I'm amazed at the potential in the answer. We would be transformed.