Thoughtful Pours

Alright everyone, let’s talk about the power of intention and release.

You may have heard about intention setting before. Basically, it’s where you come up with some action(s) that you’re committed to carrying out. Similar to goal setting, but a goal is a specific achievement where an intention is usually more of an experience, action, or feeling. A goal is what you may be striving for but an intention is how you will get there. I’ve done intention setting before, usually repeating them like mantras throughout my day or focusing on making them happen. Only to be frustrated when things didn’t transpire and I was left with what felt like empty promises and lost hope. But recently I’ve found a way that works for me that involves less effort and forcing on my part. Truly, at least for me, the more I try to force things, the more I become frustrated so I was pleased to find how well this works.

And just between you and me, I didn’t even TRY to do this, it just naturally happened and I noticed a pattern! It’s amazing what you’ll uncover when you are conscious of what is happening in and around you. *wink* That being said, everyone is different, and I’m not coming at you with a “MUST TRY! this WILL work for you too” kind of post. This is just what I have noticed works for me and am inviting you to see if it works for you, too.

For about a week now I’ve been setting a small intention in the morning of what I’d like to experience that day. For example, this morning my intention was fruitful and fun.

Here’s the caveat, once I set the intention, I let it go! I don’t repeat it, I don’t focus on it, I let it slip from my mind and begin going about my day without attaching an expectation to how it might happen. Woah, what? Really? Yup, really! This can be hard to do at first if you are trying to make yourself let it go. Like, okay, it’s going, I can’t think about it anymore, it’s gone…it’s still here, ugh. What I do is not think about my intention too hard, I like to come up with mine when I’m walking my dog because there’s lots of external stimulation to keep me focused on other things. Maybe for you it’s when you’re getting the kids ready for school, or during your morning workout (if that’s your thing) or driving to work. I ask myself what I’d like to experience that day and the first couple things that pop into my head are what I go with. No overthinking or trying to make a wishlist (of sorts) of intentions. Because they pop into my head so quickly (usually within a matter of seconds to a couple minutes) I am able to go right back to focusing on walking my dog and taking in the morning scenery, and boom, they’re practically gone. That’s not to say I don’t occasionally remember them throughout my day but my point is, they aren’t the center of my attention.

This allows God to divinely orchestrate how it will happen for you, and most times I’m surprised by how my intentions manifest.

If I put an expectation on where I’d like the intention to be focused or how I want it, it stops me from noticing where they could manifest.

At the end of the night in my journal I like to write about my day, and I find that when I’m recounting what happened, I’ve experienced my intentions in some way, shape or form. Most times, I don’t even have to think very hard.

Sometimes, I even notice my intention manifesting in the middle of the day.

You see, this morning I went to the store to buy a new journal for myself since my current one is almost out of pages. When perusing the journal section, I saw this one stick out that had the title Write the Story. When I opened it up, it was a journal where each page prompted you to write a specific story based on a title and key words they gave you. How cool!! I was looking for a way to up my writing that I’d been doing in my journal and this was perfect, so I bought it along with a new blank journal. When I got home a few hours later I sat down and wrote my first story. I was so enthusiastic crafting that short story that I had it done in 30 minutes. I read it back to myself and laughed at how much fun I just experienced. I had no intention of buying that story journal this morning, but in writing my first story I had fun!

I didn’t force myself to have fun or seek out ways to have fun, it just happened.

That is the power of setting an intention and releasing the expectation. Your intention finds YOU.

So here’s my invitation: if this sounds like something you want to try do this for one week, set your intentions in the morning, release them, go about your day and spend however much time you have before bed to either write down what happened throughout the day or think about it in your head and see what manifested and how. No detail is too small, no win is too small, everything counts. I suggest writing if you can because it’s easier to spot patterns and you may find a different way of intention setting that works better for you. You may even start to notice your intentions manifesting during the day like I have. Don’t get discouraged if they don’t manifest. Each day, each moment, is a new opportunity to notice what is happening – it may just be that you aren’t used to being as present or as consciously aware as it takes to see what is actually manifesting in your life.

Tell me in the comments, have you tried this kind of technique for intention setting? If you have, what were you surprised by? I’d love to hear your story!