Intent

 

“Setting an intent” has become a popular phrase, especially in yoga classes.

“Set an intent for your practice today.”

That can get distracting. Most of the time, my intent is to limber up, relax, and counteract the effects of so much time spent sitting at the computer. I always suspect everyone else in class is setting a much more generous intent, like peace on earth, and I feel I’m falling short.

You can set an intent each day to have the best day possible.

Or set an intent for your week.

An “intent” doesn’t mean a To Do list. You have your lists. I’ve talked, both here and on Ink in My Coffee, how daily To Do lists don’t work for me. I find them discouraging, rather than motivating. The monthly lists I have here are helpful; daily ones make me feel trapped.

But what is my intent?

If I know I have an unpleasant day ahead of me, it could be just to get through it. But I’d rather it was “finding unexpected pleasures and creativity within difficult situations” rather than “surviving.”

Psychobabble?

Dismiss it as such if you wish. However, our subconscious lives in the present. That’s why affirmations need to be set in the present, not the future.

My To-Do list for the next few days include finishing a manuscript for my editor, moving and rebuilding a website, and celebrating my birthday.

My “intent” is to take as much pleasure in every task every day as I can, and to shrug off frustrations. I’m not evolved enough to look at every frustration as an opportunity. But I’m trying to make better decisions in my reactions, and see where obstacles are tests of how badly I want to reach a goal, and where they are indications that I’m on the wrong track.

My intent for the rest of this week is to take pleasure in the small things. My intent for next week, when we “spring forward” is not to take out the inherent grumpiness I experience when we spring forward on my birthday (which I take as a personal insult) out on anyone else.

My intent for the rest of the month is to be aware of new opportunities that I might miss out of a lack of perception or exhaustion.

Where do you place “intent” in your life, and how do you want to modify or shift your intentions?