SPIRIT Journey: Intention
Once we dig deeper into our souls through the practice of introspection, we must then become consciously aware of the essence of who we truly are and, from there, set our intentions.
It is all about alignment and balance.
We are able to make an action plan to align our actions and words with the essence of our being…who we truly are and how we want to show up in the world.
Ask Deepak Chopra teaches us, “where our intention goes, energy flows”.
It is a basic principle of our True Spirit. And keep in mind, it is applicable to both positive and negative energy.
From etymonline.com:
…..“Intention” from “late 14c., entencioun, “purpose, design, aim, object, will, wish, desire
…..noun of action from intendere “to turn one’s attention,” literally “to stretch out”
…..In Middle English “emotion, feelings; heart, mind, mental faculties, understanding.”
So many meaningful and powerful words here behind “intention”.
If my attention is on who I truly am, my purpose, my wishes and my heart, then I CAN CHOOSE a conscious and well-meant (intended) response as opposed to a reaction.
“Response” comes from Latin “responsum” meaning “an answer” or “a promise in return” or “to pledge back”
As opposed to “reaction” which is “an action in resistance or response to another action or power”.
When we set our intentions from who we truly are and we respond with a choice from there, from our soul, from our True Spirit, we are setting a promise to ourselves to bring things into alignment with our integrity and maintain balance in our lives. Remember the origin of “integrity” being from “whole” and “pure”?
However, when we choose to react, like a knee-jerk reaction, it is an automated response from a conditioned painful place that is residing deep in the shadows of our subconscious mind.
I find it real interesting that the term “reaction time” came into our lexicon during the late 1800’s when the great psychologists like Wundt, Freud, Pavlov and Jung began exploring the psychology of humans. Were they onto something?
Reaction time is the “time elapsing between the action of an external stimulus and the giving of a signal in reply”
So, it is in that magic moment of time
between the EXTERNAL STIMULUS and the INTERNAL SIGNAL
that makes all the difference in the world.
In that magic moment of time, the power behind our intention rules the outcome and determines the experience we will have.
Our intentions create our reality!!!
Let that sink in a minute, and then, let’s dig deeper…
Oprah often talks about how Gary Zukav’s book, The Seat of the Soul, changed her life forever. Specifically, she shares how the chapter on intention completely shifted how she saw herself and everyone else in the world. Watch a clip here.
A Universal truth in the world = “the energy we put out into the world is the same energy we will get back.”
In essence, it is the Golden Rule – “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.
And from science, Newton’s Third Law of Physics: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
It goes deeper than that though………..
Everything is made up of energy. And if our thoughts, feelings, actions, words have a negative energy behind them, that is what we will get back. If they are positive, we will receive positive in return. (Take a look at the research done by Masaru Emoto in Hidden Messages in Water)
So, if we want more peace in our life, we must give peace to the world.
If we want more kindness, we must show more kindness.
If we want more love, we must give more love.
And so on…
All through our thoughts, feelings, actions and words…
Such a simple concept, but one that is SO DIFFICULT to follow because we go unconscious and loose touch with who we really are. We allow outside stimulus like other people, words, information read on the internet or heard through gossip to have influence and an impact on us. We get lost and off our true path.
We get caught in a loop of past hurts or future fears that just keep us frozen in time.
We don’t allow for that magic moment in time…that space between the external stimulus and the internal response. We just react, and usually, regret it later. We say or do something that does not align with what we really want, who we really are or our purpose in life.
How often have we said or done something that didn’t get the desired results or response from others? What follows is misunderstanding, hurt feelings, broken hearts and broken connections in relationships.
“I didn’t mean to do that.” or “that’s not what I meant”. If someone hurts us, we say they are “mean” or “mean-spirited”.
Meaning…what is the REAL meaning behind actions and words? “Mean” as a verb, comes from Old English maenan “intend, plan or have in mind.” (again, Emoto’s research)
Over the course of my career in education, I have seen many policies, practices and pedagogies come and go.
One thing I have noticed is that when we are seeking clarity of what we want an outcome to be, we come up with something like “essential questions” or “greater understandings” or “learning goals/objective” or “backward design” or “can do statements”.
Think about all of these for a moment. What do they all have in common?
I think that the root of all of these pedagogical terms in education is INTENTION.
In other words (words that we have seen before) =
purpose, design, aim, objective, attention, understanding, to stretch out
If educators were just able to stay true to the intentions of teaching and stay true to their hearts without all these other standardized outside distractors and false truths of data that have no real meaning…wouldn’t it be LOVEr-ly, “My Fair Lady”?
INTEND = IN THE END,
What do I want?
Who do I want to be?
How do I want to show up?
Where do I want to end up (not down)?
Why am I here?
If we stayed focused on those questions, and stand in the authentic power of our true intentions, we will find peace and harmony in our lives.
Mahatma Gandhi once said:
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony.”
Alignment and balance inside for peace, harmony and personal freedom!
It reminds me of an influential book in my life that started me on the path to introspection to find peace and personal freedom: The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz.
So, here’s to introspection and intentions, which are gateways that will lead to our last letter “T” in SPIRIT.
Stay tuned…
Essential Question of the Day for INTENTION
At the end of today, what do I pledge to my students from my heart?
CAN DO Statements:
I can make choices that align with my core values and deepest desires.
I can always choose a response to any situation that completely aligns with who I am.
I can tap into my energy at any time to see what is out of alignment and needs to be balanced.
Best Practices for Today:
When things are not going well or I feel out of balance, I will allow for that magic moment of space before I respond.
I will only respond to what is real and meaningful to my pledge.
No matter what, I pledge my allegiance to figuring out what is needed to stay aligned with my integrity and maintain balance in my heart.
Inspirational songs:
Let It Go from Frozen
All the Magic by Natalie Imbruglia
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