What is your intention?
I was listening to a pod cast the other day and they said that intention means nothing in society right now. They were talking about how words or actions are evil no matter the intention of the person doing them. I have to 100% disagree with this statement. Yes in the era of texting and lack of verbal communication intentions can get lost, but intention is still the most important thing we have as humans. As Wayne Dyer said, “Our intention creates our reality.”
Take for instance my daughter and one of her ex-friends. Why are they so distant now you might ask? Her friend we assume made the comment that “I can’t believe her parents let her date that boy!” Face value that isn’t the worst statement and to be honest no one really knows what that friends intentions were in the statement, however since my daughters boyfriend is multi-cultural in ethnicity, by the time it got back to my daughter the original statement was lost and it now had a very strong racial intention behind the words. That one statement might have been innocent and misconstrued, but mixed with several other statements, her intentions were clearly not the best. I do believe her intentions were more out of jealousy and fear and not about race, but the intention was definitely negative and negativity just breeds more negativity.
Or we have had issues with a girl next door who says awful things to get attention. The poor girl has almost no social skills and isn’t exposed to enough conversations outside the families circle of friends to learn what is and isn’t appropriate. We were having a first night of Hanukkah party for our extended friends and family that are Jewish (we are not Jewish, but we love being a part of the traditions). One couple at the party have an adopted son together. The girl was so confused how two men could have a son together. We stopped her before she could ask too many inappropriate questions, but later in the night she runs into the kitchen with her phone in her hand and very loud and proud asks her mom if Sodom and Gomorrah was in the new testament or the old testament. Her mom asks her who she is on the phone with and then proceeds to tell her they could have that discussion somewhere else later. Luckily the couple ignored the whole interaction and the night went on to be amazingly fun. My question is, what was her intention. Did she want attention? or was her intention to prove to herself that someone else's choices are religiously good or bad? or was it a way to make herself feel superior? No matter what her intentions were, her actions and words combined showed her intention was to hurt or judge others.
These two stories show me that words and actions (no matter how innocent or naive) have intentions and those intentions can lead to different outcomes and how others perceive them or the situation. We need to be aware of the intentions we put into the world around us with our actions and words. If my daughters friend would have had better intentions behind her words, no one would have perceived the statement as being racist and the fall out of her statement would not have been so devistating. If the girl next door would have quietly asked her question in a private location her intentions would have been to truly ask a question and not to make a scene.
What about intentions and the choices we make every day that create our reality? To me, it is important every morning to have an intention for the day. If my intentions are positive and loving, then I will be projecting positivity and love into the world around me throughout my day. If I wake up angry and stay angry, I will be projecting anger and negativity into the world around me…….which world do intend to live in? I choose a world of love and positivity…..living each day with grace and ease!
