If you have been playing with the intention setting exercises, it has likely become clear that there is a power and purpose behind intentions.
What is sometimes less obvious is the unfolding of that process. We are so mired in our daily lives, we often overlook the successes that have been built over steady input and time. The word process denotes this unfolding and invites us to be here now, present with the moment given, even as we steadily move toward the unfolding of our lotus bloom. The work of unfolding is right now. There is only this present task, this present experience, this present breath.
We set an intention to provide purposeful momentum to the unfolding. We are here on this Earth to be involved in our journey after all. By choosing the momentum purposefully, we create a spiraling unfolding with an upward trajectory, an evolution born from involution.
For example, consider an offering for a paint workshop. You have always wanted to learn to paint and the opportunity is decadent. A beautiful setting, a powerful group of friends, and a few days of relaxation. The workshop coincides with another offering that is of great value to you. The second offering provides family time, nature, adventure and bonding time. How do you choose? Each opportunity sings to your heart, and each will fulfill you.
We make these decisions about opportunities constantly, but often from the standpoint of time or money. Here we make the decision from the question "What creates and fosters more LOVE?" "In this moment, what choice is born from LOVE, feeds LOVE and yields to LOVE?" (Feel free to add your Intention in place of the word LOVE.)
It is possible with this example to see how either choice would be born from LOVE and would feed LOVE so both yield to LOVE. Both offerings support the individual who can then infuse LOVE into their personal life more fully.
The discernment comes from the subtlety inherent to considering if the LOVE is selfless.
What does selfless mean in this context? Take selfless to mean that the choice is filled with LOVE and remains free of the expectation for recognition, appreciation or return cycle. The choice itself, the act itself, the giving itself is so deeply fulfilling that reward is inherent to the act.
We are dynamically and purposefully filled up when we empower and provide to others. The nitty gritty here is in the fine tuning. Both choices are LOVING choices, recharging choices and full of fun and play. To make such a choice, you might ask "Which moment brings the most offering of LOVE in a selfless way? Which offering would inspire from me the most generous LOVE?"
Sometimes the answer isn't where you think it is.
So, even as we hold intention for that which is to come, in this moment right now, we release the attachment to the form in which it will come, surrender the outcome to the journey. We can then trust that our thought-energy, built around our purposeful values, distilled into our Intention, is at work holding the trajectory of the path.
As you play with your Intentions, surrender the time management aspect and the preconceived notions. There is a subtle difference between setting intentions versus setting goals. One aspect of this difference is the end point. Goals are met and are thus fixed in time. Intentions evolve and are thus timeless.
Celebrate along the way as you pass the signposts of progress, those edges that reveal themselves; and remember that your life is not a goal to be met, but a journey toward increased awareness, increased vitality, increased presence.
Receive what is being offered from a place of Intention.
Practice Offering
- Take a few deep full breaths into the abdomen, the lower ribs, the chest and the clavicles.
- Release the exhale slowly and smoothly. Repeat.
- Take a moment and visualize a spiral from the center of your heart radiating upward and outward.
- Notice that the point of origin is always within your heart.
- Sense the color, texture and feel of your spiral.
- Sense the movement of the spiral.
- With each inhale, infuse your spiral with your Intention.
- With each exhale release the unfolding to its natural course.
- You can relate to this visual aspect as often as you need to regroup and recenter.
Copyright 2018
