Day 12: REFLECT ON YOUR INTENTIONS
On Day 12, the kind folks at Kindspring who give us the seeds that set us thinking, as part of the 21-day Mindfulness Challenge, tell us to reflect us on our intentions.
Intentions are our motivators. They are what get us to behave the way we do, speak the way we do.
And so they are important.
But beyond that is the larger landscape of our actions. Whether our intentions get translated into reality or whether they remain as they are, too overwhelmed by their greatness to take a step further.
As the old proverb goes: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The "would-have-liked-tos," the "never-meant-tos," the "tried-tos," and so many others that we recognise for the glibness with which they flow off our tongues.
This day let us reflect upon our intentions every morning, and see how closer they are to completion by the close of our day.
A certain degree of frustration in the achievement of these goals is inevitable, but if the close of each day sees us trying hard to match the intention with the desired action, then it means we are not trying hard enough.
For intention, despite its seeming gravitas, receives strength from action.
Without action, intention is but a shadow.
Mindfulness demands that we pay attention to our intentions.
Each intention is a choice.
Whether we choose this or that, or not at all, will influence the course of our lives.
My intention is to post everyday on my blog. My reality is that, yesterday, after transplanting flowers, taking care of Charlie while his mom shopped for groceries, and fixing dinner for us later in the day, I turned off the computer and said 'Maybe, tomorrow'. My intentions seem to have a grading system of what I really 'need' to do and what I would 'like' to do.
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean Denise, my intentions get thwarted all the time. It's as if they have a mind of their own.
ReplyDeleteOn the rare occasion on which my intention does get translated into reality, I'm always taken by surprise.
There are an array of intentions some are more like whispy wishes, that are often forgotten. Wishes we say to others moreso than ourselves. Other intentions are mantras, and still others are living things. As you have said action, and even moreso sustained, unrelenting action, over time and through advertisity transforms intention into your life.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, Eco. Ultimately it is up to us to imbue our intentions with power. We alone decide how much influence our intentions will hold over us, by the amount of action we devote towards them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for helping me to reflect, I am still thinking ...
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