Today, during a 5-min “mommy break”, I was scrolling through my Facebook page and came across a story posted about a kid with Cerebral Palsy who completed a triathlon. The short video showed the kid using all of his might to get across the finish line, without his walker or assistant no less. It was totally inspiring. The crowd was right there with him, as was I as I watched. Thinking about the physical manifestation of that kid’s will in that moment led me to think about the amazing power of concentrated will and energy.
Then, it got me thinking about my own energy and where I’m putting it. Lately I have felt a bit scattered, sort of spread too thin, and not feeling really very committed to any of my health and fitness goals. I mean, I’m still doing some of the essential habits like exercising and eating mostly food that nourishes me. But, I don’t feel really that deep connection to much of it. I don’t always feel that thirst to dig deeper, challenge myself, or explore deeper. I’m kind of just going through the motions. I have also noticed that I’m feeling jealous when I see others attaining their goals.
After I saw that article on Facebook it hit me. I’ve not set some very clear intentions. I’m kind of on cruise control. And I should know from my studies and my experiences that energy flows where intentions go. Look, there is even a meme to prove it!
So I’ve got some personal work to do. I’m longing for some focus and it feels good to have uncovered the root cause. It’s really quite simple, if I don’t have clarity on my direction, how can I expect to get ‘there’, if I don’t know where ‘there is”. Even beyond getting ‘there’, it’s much harder to really get the lessons along the way when I’m on auto pilot. I’m missing the juicy stuff, the subtleties and and insights that come when I direct my will and energy into something and then learn about myself as I move toward it.
Setting intentions is a practice and a discipline. It doesn’t have to be complex. In fact, I think at first it should be simple. It’s got to feel good and real, and have meaning. The first time I ever practiced setting intentions I tried to manifest a free newspaper, that is how simple I made it for myself. And I did, I got that newspaper! I didn’t stop there, but I did learn that without prioritizing the practice, and then feeding the seed of intention with energy, time, visualization, etc., it sort of went nowhere.
I don’t want to live a life on auto pilot. I see the ill effects when I drift away from things that move me and are invoked from the deepest part of me. I start to get lazy in all kinds of ways, and start to feel anxiety – like a tree whose roots have come untethered and I’m floating around in the wind. No bueno.
The cool thing is that the universe is very forgiving. Now is always a good time to start again. There is no wrong time or missed boat, thank GAWD!
Off White Living 