The Power of Intention

The power of intention is mighty. Setting good intentions and renewing them often are important keys to having the road ahead of you be healthy, happy and successful.

An intention is a goal, plan or idea. It is created in your thoughts. It is a vision of an outcome that you see happening at some point in the future.

There can be passive intentions and active intentions. Active intentions are much more useful in creating a positive future.

A passive intention is like a plan or idea that lacks focus and attention. It is vague and hard to follow. The power of intention cannot be harnessed using only passive intentions.

Think of the Universe as a place that is listening to all of your thoughts and taking them as calls to action.

When vague, unfocused intentions come through they can be misinterpreted, giving you results you didn't really want. Or they can be simply ignored, again, giving you results you didn't really want.

We have many passive intentions throughout the day and, this is okay, as long as we are putting out very clear and focused intentions as well throughout the day.

Passive intentions are things like;

• a passing thought
• thinking, 'I wonder what that would feel like', 'maybe I'll do that', 'someday that would be nice', 'hmmm I don't know. I'm not sure', etc.
• conflicting thoughts on an idea
• being told what to do and not feeling good about it

Passive intentions can be important as they are often the first stepping stones to creating an active intention. We will first often glimpse an idea which, over time, becomes a clearer and more focused intention.

Active intentions are things like;

• a clear visualization of an outcome
• thinking, 'I will do this', 'This is what I see happening', 'This is what I want', 'I see myself doing ...', 'This is what I am meant to do', etc
• strong, clear detailed thoughts
• clear thoughts that give you a feeling of peace and goodness within you

The power of intention is harnessed when we make use of active intentions.

If we spend all of our time allowing only passive intentions to be, then we can expect to wander through our lives not ever grasping our full potentials.

Use moments in your day to create active intentions for what you want, make use of the power of intention.

Again, think of the Universe as receiving your thoughts as calls to action. If clear focused intentions come through it is much easier to pay attention to those and to have them be realized.

Here's another analogy: You are the boss of the big company that is you. Your intentions are the orders that you delegate out to the many staff members you have working to help create you.

If you are the type of boss that gives unclear and contradicting orders, is angry, irritable and impatient then your staff will not be able to (or want to) assist you in meeting your goals.

On the other hand if you are a boss that is clear and confident of what is expected of the staff, things will be different. If you give orders that are easy to follow and you are patient, kind and forgiving then your staff will not only be able to easily help you, but they will want to and they will be eager to help you meet your goals.

Are you unclear about what happens once you have a clear intention? Are you doubtful that your intentions, clear or not, have any affect at all on the outcome of things in your life?

Well, the power of intention works whether you believe in it or not. The fact of the matter is, that whatever energy we put out will be returned to us.

Energy is made up of our intentions, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and emotions. There is, of course, much more that makes up our energy system but for the sake of the power of intention I will refer to only these.

Have you ever noticed that when you wake up in a bad mood that your entire day seems a bit off? And when you are in a great mood everything seems effortless? Have you ever thought of someone and then, 'out of the blue' they call you? Have you ever called someone only to hear them tell you that they were just thinking about you?

These are just some simple examples that illustrate how our thoughts (ie our intentions) can affect our reality. In the above examples the power of intention is shown using some cases of passive intention. Now think about what could happen when consciously and continually using active intention.

Our thoughts, intentions and beliefs do affect our lives. They affect the choices we make and the energy we give off. And they affect what we attract into our lives.

Remember the saying, 'be careful what you wish for'? Well, along the same lines, only make clear focused intentions for what you truly want - for what is truly best for you.

Yes and No. There are, of course other things that come into play when looking at all the factors that affect what happens in a person's life.

The power of intention certainly does affect how your life flows but it is by no means a magic trick to make you win the lottery or to save you from a tragic loss. This is not a quick fix to solve life's problems.

What this is, is an awareness of your thought patterns and belief systems. It is having control over your thoughts instead of your thoughts wildly having control over you.

Intentions are like your road map through life. By setting intentions that feel good for you and by renewing those intentions daily you can avoid wandering so far off the map that you feel extremely challenged to get back on track again.

Now, that is not to say that, by using the power of intention, you won't come to bumps in the road at times. But keeping strong intentions in your heart will make it all that much easier for you to find the way around those bumps.

Let's look at the power of intention using the marriage between two people as an example. I chose this example because the breakdown of relationships and family is happening at epidemic proportions nowadays and almost everyone knows someone that is affected by this.

At the beginning of the marriage, there is usually some sort of ceremony where clearly laid intentions are set and agreed to by both parties. The couple sets a strong intention to remain together and committed to one another.

Following, are two very different outcomes of what happens to this intention when it is renewed often vs rarely or not at all.

In one case, both parties can, individually or together, spend time daily renewing their intentions towards their marriage. As their intentions are continually renewed this affects the choices they make, how they interact with one another and helps them to avoid feeling lost in their marriage because they have continued to look at their marriage road map.

This couple still experiences challenges but their intentions towards their marriage and each other have remained strong which will help them to support one another and their marriage through any challenges.

In another case, after the marriage ceremony the couple rarely, if ever, contemplates or renews their marriage intentions. Day after day go by without the couple, individually or together, consciously renewing their intentions towards their marriage.

In this case, what started out as a clear intention has, over time, become vague and unclear. Because they haven't continually renewed their intentions it is easier to become lost.

Like I said earlier, intentions are like your road map through life and, in this example, through your marriage. Not renewing their intentions makes it easier to wander off course.

When the couple in this case are faced with the normal challenges of marriage it may be harder for them to support one another and stay together because they have lost their focus on what their intention was.

Use the power of intention to help you to understand what it is that you want and to keep you focused on those goals.

Every day set aside some quiet time when you can be alone. First thing when you awake and last thing before you sleep are the best times of day to set your intentions. This is when your mind is naturally the quietest and when your subconscious is the most open to receiving your intentions.

Follow these steps;

• close your eyes and quiet your mind
• use your breath to help you quiet your mind (observe your breath and let your mind become still)
• clearly envision in your mind your intention
• make the vision in your mind as detailed as possible, creating a vision of exactly what your intention is
• add as much detail as possible to your vision; sounds, smells, feelings, movements etc.
• use clear focused statements to narrate your vision, stating clearly in your mind what your intention is
• hold this intention in your mind strongly for 15-30 seconds allowing your entire being to become immersed in your intention, feel it on all levels of your being.
• smile, open your eyes and continue with your day
• repeat again later in the day making sure to do this at least once a day

If you put negative intentions out there, you will be more likely to attract negative things and people into your life. Be very careful with your thoughts as they can quickly turn into actions that you may regret.

From time to time all of us experience situations that anger or upset us, this is normal. But, holding on to negative thoughts and consciously creating negative intentions, like revenge, will hold you back from your positive potential.

Be steadfast every day to renew the positive intentions that you hold for your life. Starting and ending your day with a renewal of your positive intentions will make any negative moments in between so much easier to deal with. You will be a happier and more focused person.

Using the power of intention is an innate skill that we all have. Take 30 seconds every morning and every night to renew your intentions and your life will change.

Use your intentions to help you remember what your true goals are, what you are meant to do with your life. It is your birthright to be happy and at peace as you move through your moments.. and you deserve it!

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