The Power of Intention

Vision
“Build it, and they will come.”  Remember this quote from the 1989 movie starring Kevin Costner?  If you guessed, “Field of Dreams”, you are right!  This movie was on just the other night, in fact.  It’s not my favourite, nor is Mr. Costner as an actor, but it is one of my husband’s preferred movies from back then.  The idea behind the quote is an interesting prospect.  It insinuates that if you put an idea forward, it will come to fruition.  But, you have to own it, you have to live it, you have to do the work.  I dare say that this is the part that many of us forget, opt out of, make excuses for, or plain shy away from, myself included.  Afterall, ‘who are we to be so powerful?’, as I am reminded of the poem, “Our Deepest Fear”. If you haven’t had the privilege of reading this poem by Marianne Williamson, I highly recommend it–I mean, highly!  The first time I read it, it literally turned me into one giant goosebump.  I will include the poem at the end of my post for you to ponder, if you wish…

Lately, my husband and I have been revisiting the whole notion of intention in our nightly ‘jibber jabber’ sessions with each other.  While neither of us are highly religious people, we are both very spiritual.  And, in saying so, we are also very reflective and open to what this grand universe has to offer.  To think that we, as people, are the end all, be all is a bit naive, in my opinion.  I definitely believe that there is more to this world than most of us can even begin to understand.  At this point in our lives, as we contemplate where we’ve been and where we are going, it is invigorating to think of what else is out there for us as we embark upon the second chapter in life.  It is one of the reasons that I decided to go ahead with my blog, actually.  Writing is something that I have always wanted to do, so why not?  And, why not right now?

Both my husband and I feel grateful for our place in life and everything that has brought us here and together to share in this journey.  Each of us know, and are surrounded by people, who carry a similar philosophy, which is no coincidence obviously.  In fact, just now, as I am blogging, a good friend of mine texted me about her husband’s eye surgery and how she is putting it out to the universe that “his vision will be better than before”.  Neither she nor I are surprised by this… Having said that, I am fully aware that everyone has their own way of looking at things and that some might view this all as a little ‘airy-fairy’, and you know what?  That’s okay.  Our way of thinking may not be your way of thinking, and that is the beauty of it all.  That’s what intrigues me about people, in general.  As cliche as it sounds, this place would be a lot more dull if we all thought the same way.

In my late 20’s, I had the opportunity to attend a three-part Personal Development Course.  At first, I will admit that I thought it all sounded kind of hokey.  But, it really did open my eyes to a whole new way of looking at things, including myself.  As part of this course, I did some work around setting intentions and building a vision board-simply a visual representation of what you want out of life.  It was all very fascinating.  The realization that we are in charge of our lives and that we have the power to decide how our lives will be lived.  Many of us often feel like life does unto us, and it’s true that we can get dealt some really crummy situations, as many of us have, but the truth of the matter is that how you choose to handle each situation is what is self-defining, and it IS a choice.  In my Psychology 104/105 class in university, they referred to it as ‘reframing’.  For example, it is raining outside:  I say, ‘Man, this sucks, I hate the rain’, and you say, ‘Finally…we sure need some moisture.  I can’t wait to check on my garden’.   Same situation, but our interpretations are much different, right?  Really, I am not shedding light on anything new here, since we all know that thinking positively can make all the difference.  It’s just a matter of whether or not you are willing to fully embrace this way of looking at things.  And, let’s face it…some days it’s easier to do so over others.  Trust me, I know.

The power of visualization and positive thinking is no secret in the sportsworld, especially, as most of us are aware that athletes spend as much time training their minds as they do their bodies.  They will envision their jump, run, or whatever event it is that they are participating in, and they will do so with them achieving their ultimate success.  Many top executives in the business world report doing the same.  Now, you and I both know that NOT everyone can win the gold medal or be the CEO of a multi-million dollar company, so it obviously cannot work in every instance.  But, I can guarantee you that those who lose out, so to speak, do not abandon their practices of visualizing success just because of one loss or one missed promotion.  Timing, readiness, preparation, the competition, our core beliefs can all impact the result.  The key is usually our stick-with-it-ness, as I like to call it.  Usually great success stories are in fact a combination of many things, including A LOT of hard work and all of the above-mentioned.

 

As with the sports and business worlds, we know that the same principle of positivity can be true for ourselves, in many everyday instances.  For example, I am not a morning person AT all.  Never have been, never will be-I swear, it’s just not in my DNA, as my mom is the same way.  Now, I will reluctantly admit that I am getting better at mornings after four decades of accepting that this world seems to revolve around a workday, where mornings are required.  In saying that, I have also come to learn that if I start out the day with a sour attitude, likely the rest of my day will go that way.  And, usually, it does.  However, if I can catch myself, or recognize that my attitude has a huge part in things, I can do something to change it.  I have tested this theory out on many occasions, and usually, I can manage to turn things around.  Remember it’s not the events themselves that I am changing, it’s just my take on them. In my job, I see blatant examples of how one’s field of energy impacts another all the time.  I have the privilege of working with children all day long, and I can tell you unequivocally that after doing so for twenty years now, their energy and my energy are interrelated.  You’ll have to excuse my vague knowledge of science here for a moment, but I believe that it was Mikhail Lomonosov’s law of mass conservation that states that ‘mass (to which matter and energy are related) cannot be either created nor destroyed.  (Okay, so I had to look up the name of the guy and his law on Google, but I did know the part about matter being neither created or destroyed).  To me, this theory just confirms that positive and negative energy is just out there floating around and we can either pick up on it or not. It’s there, it already exists.  And, most definitely, those around us can greatly impact our field of energy with their own.  The all-too familiar expression, ‘Smiles are contagious’ is further evidence to what I am saying.

My circumlocutions bring me back to the beginning of this post, which is to say that I strongly believe in the power of intention, and that it is up to us to direct our lives as we see fit.  Everytime I visit this subject, I get a renewed sense of all of the possibilities that lie before each and every one of us, as we make our way through this life trying to find our purpose and our place.  While it is often a convoluted journey, each of us has the ability to choose which way we want to go, how we want to get there and perhaps most importantly, who will share in our excursion along the way.  My blog, this post, is a testament of one of the ways in which I am choosing to go forward at this time in my life. I honestly don’t know where sharing my thoughts and musings of everyday things will go, but I have decided to put it out there.  If you are reading this sentence, then I would like to say thank you for supporting me in my journey, whatever that may be!