Setting an Intention: How It Can Make a Difference in Your Direction
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Choose your path
As we set off on holiday and into the beautiful endless summer, I thought it might be a good time to think about intention. Intentions can really make a difference in how we approach our day, the choices we make and how we live our lives. In the freedom of summer we have an opportunity to grow and to practice ways of thinking that will support us in more stressful times.
Intentions are different from goals. Goals are obviously valuable and have their place when we need to stay on track and get something accomplished, but, in this context, we are looking at something more subtle, internal, and present in the moment.
If we make a goal to say be mindful when we take our seat for meditation, we actually move out of the moment we are in. We are looking at something we would like to happen. A goal is focused on the future. This can lead to judgments of our current experience, such as “not good enough,” “can’t do it,” etc. This might lead to a feeling of unease or tension.
With an intention, we are not concerned with the result. We are simply connecting to how we want to be in the moment. An intention can guide us in our moment-to-moment focus. It allows us to enjoy the process rather than focus on a result.
Setting an intention to be mindful in our meditation allows us to let go and be open to whatever comes up in any given moment.
As with all lessons we learn in meditation they can be taken out into real world, day-to-day experience.
When we set an intention, it can bring guidance. It allows us to see our path more clearly and make choices that support it. It can bring a clarity to our decision-making.
An intention is a very internal connection that we make outside choices to support. This intention is like planting a seed that you then nourish with choices and decisions that you make throughout the day. For example, if your intention is to find more balance that day, you would make choices to support that, like getting out and walking in the park versus working though lunch and eating at your desk.
When we set an intention we are more aware of our actions, opportunities, and people that will support it.
Setting positive intentions can help us to be more motivated, more optimistic, and more focused on the positive aspects of our experience. An intention can also help us to be less reactionary when a problem does arise.
Intensions could be:
- I intend to focus to the positive aspects and thoughts
- I intend to bring balance into my day
- I intend to respond rather than react
- I intend to listen more
- I intend to stop taking things personally
- I intend to focus on the moment I am in
- I intend to stay calm and breathe
- I intend to embrace change
It can be nice practice to work with our children to set intentions. They may need a little encouragement, but it can lead to great discussion as you check in throughout the day sharing your experiences. Be open and honest, not trying to brush over certain emotions or situations but rather face them openly and with our intentions at our side.
Finding time in the morning to create a habit of setting intentions can really work well. Over the breakfast table, you can start off and then help your child. It can be a very empowering and inspiring practice. It might work well asking them what they would like to invite into their life today. Love? Fun? Joy? Calm? For older children it might expand into how they want to approach their day, with a sense of gratitude, helpfulness, attentiveness, bravery, etc.
When you have your intention, the action of saying it out loud can feel like you are really igniting your practice. You might even go on to envision how this might manifest during the day.
Setting an intention each day can be a way to really change your life, focus on the things you want to bring into it, and be a tool for dealing with the struggles that come up.
Give it a try this summer!