Focus on what you want

Focus on what you want


“A good intention clothes itself with power.”

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our minds are incredibly powerful. We put that power to work for us when we consciously set an intention to be or do something. Get into the practice of consciously setting an intention for every activity in which you are involved.

Your intention might support efficiency – for example, to complete a job or project by a specific time. Your intention might support your personal growth, e.g., to undertake a task that scares you. Or it might support more soul connection, e.g., to see beauty in the chaos of your day.

When we make an effort to set an intention, no matter how trivial it may appear, we are taking the time to choose what we want for ourselves. And clearly, this is essential for our growth – to actively, thoughtfully choose what we want for ourselves.

“By becoming a conscious choice-maker, you begin to generate actions that are evolutionary for you.”

-- Deepak Chopra

Intention is useless without action to back it up. At the start of the uni semester, I set my intention to not leave the huge assignment due in about the tenth week till the last minute...well here it is less than two weeks out from the due date, and guess what? I aint gonna get a good mark for having good intentions. So why did I set an intention and choose not to follow through? Fear. Pretty much, I let myself be overwhelmed by the task and the fact that I am not all that confident using power point as an aid to my work, so I decided to put it off and put it off thinking 'there's heaps of time'. So worried about failing that I self-sabotaged myself into doing just that - failing to act on my good intention.

I read alot of this spiritual ramping up - you know the witty positive things that are written by those considered to be masters at the game of light. But do I follow their advice? I have to say, I draw positive energy from their words, but still the effort to integrate their ideas into my life all comes back to me. Sometimes their words come across as ambiguous, like Deepak's claim that: By becoming a conscious choice-maker, you begin to generate actions that are evolutionary for you. No it doesn't. I consciously chose to begin before now but I didn't act on it. Action begets action not simply intending to do it. We can have all the good intentions in the world and still sit stonecold stuck in our rut of frustration because we do not act on them. And then it is all too easy to turn around and say that spiritual thinking does not work. All intention is really is inspiration. It fuels our minds and spirits to make a plan, but unless we align this with physical action, all we really have is a dream. And you know, in non-physicality that might actually work to get things done instantaneously but here on earth where physicality exists, we must learn to use our minds, bodies and spirits together to achieve an outcome. That's the deeper understanding that these spiritual authors are getting at. But unless you are already on the same path of understanding as them, then the message is lost in semantics that don't really convey a truth.

Focus on what you want...now there is something quite profound. Many people do the opposite - just like me when I said 'I don't want to wait til the last minute to start this assignment'. Guess what I ordered from the universe and received? Exactly that - starting the assignment at the last minute! Next time i will focus on having a completed assignment and lots of time to spare before it is due in.