Victoria wants to stay sober. She’s quit before, only to relapse. This time, however, she’s got a young child counting on Mommie to “get better” and return from rehab.
Travis desires a long-term relationship. Content for years to be a “lady’s man,” he recently recovered from a life-threatening illness, and is now clear that he is ready for a lifelong partner.
Somehow, Doug aspires to feel happy again. Under the weight of a huge personal and marital crisis last summer, he attempted suicide. He’s not sure whether his marriage will make it, but he knows he wants to live.
Also, the common but invisible thread that connects these three people is this: Each person has actually declared an intention, rather than wistfully wishing for things to be different.
Moreover, “Conscious change is brought about by the two qualities inherent in consciousness: attention and intention,” writes Deepak Chopra in Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
“Attention energizes, and intention transforms. Whatever you put your attention on will grow stronger in your life…. Intention, on the other hand, triggers the transformation of energy and information. Intention organizes its own fulfillment.”So, when you declare an intention, you gain the support of your subconscious mind.
Here are some suggestions for how to work with intentions in order to bring what you need into your life.
- Get clear on what you want and why. It’s not enough to know what you don’t want. You can’t get what you want until you know what that is. Steven Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, writes that all things are created twice. “There’s a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things.”
- Imagine it. See it as happening. “Your imagination creates the inner picture that allows you to participate in the act of creation,” writes Dr. Wayne Dyer in his best-selling book The Power of Intention. “Your willpower is much less effective than your imagination, which is your link to the power of intention.”
- Keep yourself receptive. Exercise, eat healthily, play, and relax. Stress, exhaustion, anxiety, etc., become “static” that interferes with the “frequencies” of what you’re wanting to bring into your life.
- Take action. The intention isn’t about sitting back and waiting for it all to come to you. For example, Victoria enrolled herself in a rehab program; Travis became involved with a social organization and took relationship classes to overcome his fear of dating; Doug began working with a therapist to examine the feelings of emptiness that led to his suicide attempt. When we commit to a thing by taking action, it’s often surprising how quickly our intentions are realized.
- Surrender control. Which means to let go and trust. So, let go of the particular way in which things will happen. Let go of fear, doubt, worry, and disappointment. Now, let go of the notion of struggle. Trust that the outcome will be just right.
