The Power of Intention Read online

  It’s important that you recognize that your entire worldview is based on how much respect you have for yourself. Believe in infinite possibilities and you cast a vote for your own possibilities. Stand firm on the potential for humans to live in peace and be receptive to all, and you’re someone who’s at peace and receptive to life’s possibilities. Know that the universe is filled with abundance and prosperity and is available to everyone, and you come down on the side of having that abundance show up for you as well. Your level of self-regard must come from your knowing within yourself that you have a sacred connection. Let nothing shake that divine foundation. In this way, your link to intention is cleansed, and you always know that self-respect is your personal choice. It has nothing to do with what others may think of you. Your self-respect comes from the self and the self alone.

  The self in self-respect. Perhaps the greatest mistake we make, which causes a loss of self-respect, is making the opinions of others more important than our own opinion of ourselves. Self-respect means just what it says—it originates from the self. This self originated in a universal field of intention that intended you here—from the infinite formless state to a being of molecules and physical substance. If you fail to respect yourself, you’re showing contempt for the process of Creation.

  You’ll find no shortage of opinions directed at you. If you allow them to undermine your self-respect, you’re seeking the respect of others over your own, and you’re abdicating yourself. Then you’re attempting to reconnect to the field of intention with low-energy attitudes of judgment, hostility, and anxiety. You’ll cycle into low-energy vibrations that will simply force you to attract more and more of these lower energies into your life. Remember, it’s high energy that nullifies and converts lower energy. Light eradicates darkness; love dissolves hate. If you’ve allowed any of those lower negative thoughts and opinions directed your way to become the basis of your self-portrait, you’re asking the universal mind do the same. Why? Because at the high frequencies, the universal Source of intention is pure creativeness, love, kindness, beauty, and abundance. Self-respect attracts the higher energy. Lack of self-respect attracts the lower. It knows no other way.

  The negative viewpoints of others represent their low-energy ego working on you. Very simply, if you’re judging anyone, you aren’t loving them at that moment. The judgments coming your way, likewise, are unloving but have nothing to do with your self-respect. Their judgments (and yours as well) distance you from your Source, and therefore away from the power of intention. As my friend and colleague Gerald Jampolsky observed, “When I am able to resist the temptation to judge others, I can see them as teachers of forgiveness in my life, reminding me that I can only have peace of mind when I forgive rather than judge.”

  This is how you return to the self in self-respect. Rather than judging those who judge you, thereby lowering your self-respect, you send them a silent blessing of forgiveness and imagine them doing the same toward you. You’re connecting to intention and guaranteeing that you’ll always respect the divinity that you are. You’ve cleared the path to be able to enjoy the great power that is yours in the field of intention.

  Making Your Intention Your Reality

  In this concluding section, you’ll find ten ways to practice nurturing your intention to respect yourself at all times.

  Step 1: Look into a mirror, make eye connection with yourself, and say “I love me” as many times as possible during your day. I love me: These three magic words help you maintain your self-respect. Now, be aware that saying these words may be difficult at first because of the conditions you’ve been exposed to over a lifetime, and because the words may bring to the surface remnants of disrespect that your ego wants you to hold on to.

  Your immediate impulse might be to see this as an expression of your ego’s desire to be superior to everyone else. But this is not an ego statement at all—it’s an affirmation of self-respect. Transcend that ego mind and affirm your love for yourself and your connection to the Spirit of God. This doesn’t make you superior to anyone; it makes you equal to all and celebrates that you’re a piece of God. Affirm it for your own self-respect. Affirm it in order to be respectful of that which intended you here. Affirm it because it’s the way you’ll stay connected to your Source and regain the power of intention. I love me. Say it without embarrassment. Say it proudly, and be that image of love and self-respect.

  Step 2: Write the following affirmation and repeat it over and over again to yourself: I am whole and perfect as I was created! Carry this thought with you wherever you go. Have it laminated, and place it in your pocket, on your dashboard, on your refrigerator, or next to your bed—allow the words to become a source of high energy and self-respect. By simply carrying these words with you and being in the same space with them, their energy will flow directly to you.

  Self-respect emerges from the fact that you respect the Source from which you came and you’ve made a decision to reconnect to that Source, regardless of what anyone else might think. It’s very important to keep reminding yourself at the beginning that you’re worthy of infinite respect from the one Source you can always count on, the piece of God energy that defines you. This reminder will do wonders for your self-respect, and consequently your ability to use the power of intention in your life. Over and over, remind yourself: I’m not my body. I’m not my accumulations. I’m not my achievements. I’m not my reputation. I am whole and perfect as I was created!

  Step 3: Extend more respect to others and to all of life. Perhaps the greatest secret of self-esteem is to appreciate other people more. The easiest way to do this is to see the unfolding of God in them. Look past the judgments of others’ appearance, failures, and successes, their status in society, their wealth or lack of it . . . and extend appreciation and love to the Source from which they came. Everyone is a child of God—everyone! Try to see this even in those who behave in what appears to be a godless fashion. Know that by extending love and respect, you can turn that energy around so that it’s heading back to its Source rather than away from it. In short, send out respect because that is what you have to give away. Send out judgment and low energy and that is what you’ll attract back. Remember, when you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself as someone who needs to judge. The same applies to judgments directed at you.

  Step 4: Affirm to yourself and all others that you meet, I belong! A sense of belonging is one of the highest attributes on Abraham Maslow’s pyramid of self-actualization (which I discuss at the beginning of the next chapter). Feeling that you don’t belong or you’re in the wrong place can be due to a lack of self-respect. Respect yourself and your divinity by knowing that everyone belongs. This should never come into question. Your presence here in the universe is proof alone that you belong here. No person decides if you belong here. No government determines if some belong and some don’t. This is an intelligent system that you’re a part of. The wisdom of Creation intended you to be here, in this place, in this family with these siblings and parents, occupying this precious space. Say it to yourself and affirm it whenever necessary: I belong! And so does everyone else. No one is here by accident!

  Step 5: Remind yourself that you’re never alone. My self-respect stays intact as long as I know that it’s impossible for me to be alone. I have a “senior partner” who’s never abandoned me and who’s stuck with me even in moments when I had seemingly deserted my Source. I feel that if the universal mind has enough respect to allow me to come here and to work through me—and to protect me in times when I strayed onto dangerous nonspiritual turf—then this partnership deserves my reciprocal respect. I recall my friend Pat McMahon, a talk-show host on KTAR radio in Phoenix, Arizona, telling me about his encounter with Mother Teresa in his studio before interviewing her for his program. He pleaded with her to allow him to do something for her. “Anything at all,” he begged. “I’d just like to help you in some way.” She looked at him and said, “Tomorrow morning get up at 4:00 A.M. and
go out onto the streets of Phoenix. Find someone who lives there and believes that he’s alone, and convince him that he’s not.” Great advice, because everyone who wallows in self-doubt or appears to be lost . . . has lost their self-respect because they’ve forgotten that they’re not alone.

  Step 6: Respect your body! You’ve been provided with a perfect body to house your inner invisible being for a few brief moments in eternity. Regardless of its size, shape, color, or any imagined infirmities, it’s a perfect creation for the purpose that you were intended here for. You don’t need to work at getting healthy; health is something you already have if you don’t disturb it. You may have disturbed your healthy body by overfeeding it, underexercising it, and overstimulating it with toxins or drugs that make it sick, fatigued, jumpy, anxious, depressed, bloated, ornery, or an endless list of maladies. You can begin the fulfillment of this intention to live a life of self-respect by honoring the temple that houses you. You know what to do. You don’t need another diet, workout manual, or personal trainer. Go within, listen to your body, and treat it with all of the dignity and love that your self-respect demands.

  Step 7: Meditate to stay in conscious contact with your Source, which always respects you. I can’t say this enough: Meditation is a way to experience what the five senses can’t detect. When you’re connected to the field of intention, you’re connected to the wisdom that’s within you. That divine wisdom has great respect for you, and it cherishes you while you’re here. Meditation is a way to ensure that you stay in a state of self-respect. Regardless of all that goes on around you, when you enter into that sacred space of meditation, all doubts about your value as an esteemed creation dissolve. You’ll emerge from the solemnity of meditation feeling connected to your Source and enjoying respect for all beings, particularly yourself.

  Step 8: Make amends with adversaries. The act of making amends sends out a signal of respect for your adversaries. By radiating this forgiving energy outward, you’ll find this same kind of respectful positive energy flowing back toward you. By being big enough to make amends and replace the energy of anger, bitterness, and tension with kindness—even if you still insist that you’re right—you’ll respect yourself much more than prior to your act of forgiveness. If you’re filled with rage toward anyone, there’s a huge part of you that resents the presence of this debilitating energy. Take a moment right here and now to simply face that person who stands out in your mind as someone you hurt, or directed hurt to you, and tell him or her that you’d like to make amends. You’ll notice how much better you feel. That good feeling of having cleared the air is self-respect. It takes much more courage, strength of character, and inner conviction to make amends than it does to hang on to the low-energy feelings.

  Step 9: Always remember the self in self-respect. In order to do this, you must recognize that the opinions of others toward you aren’t facts, they’re opinions. When I speak to an audience of 500 people, there are 500 opinions of me in the room at the end of the evening. I’m none of those opinions. I can’t be responsible for how they view me. The only thing I can be responsible for is my own character, and this is true for every one of us. If I respect myself, then I’m relying on the self in self-respect. If I doubt myself, or punish myself, I’ve not only lost my self-respect, I’ll continue to attract more and more doubt and lower-energy opinions with which to further punish myself. You can’t stay linked to the universal mind, which intends all of us here, if you fail to rely on your self for your self-respect.

  Step 10: Be in a state of gratitude. You’ll discover that gratitude is the final step in each succeeding chapter. Be an appreciator rather than a depreciator of everything that shows up in your life. When you’re saying Thank you, God, for everything, and when you’re expressing gratitude for your life and all that you see and experience, you’re respecting Creation. This respect is within you, and you can only give away what you have inside. Being in a state of gratitude is the exact same thing as being in a state of respect—respect for yourself, which you give away freely, and which will return to you tenfold.

  I close this chapter with the words of Jesus of Nazareth, speaking through his apostle Saint Matthew (Matthew 5:48): “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Reconnect to the perfection from which you originated.

  You can’t have any more self-respect than that!

  IT IS

  MY INTENTION TO:

  LIVE MY LIFE

  ON PURPOSE

  “Those who have failed to work toward the truth have missed the purpose of living.”

  — Buddha

  “Your sole business in life is to attain God-realization.

  All else is useless and worthless.”

  — Sivananda

  A sense of purpose is at the very top of the pyramid of self-actualization created by Abraham Maslow more than 50 years ago. Through his research, Dr. Maslow discovered that those who feel purposeful are living the highest qualities that humanity has to offer. During the many years I’ve been in the fields of human development, motivation, and spiritual awareness, this is the topic that more people inquire about than anything else. I’m repeatedly asked questions such as: How do I find my purpose? Does such a thing really exist? Why don’t I know my purpose in life? Being on purpose is what the most self-actualized people accomplish on their life journeys. But many individuals feel little sense of purpose, and may even doubt that they have a purpose in life.

  Purpose and Intention

  The theme of this book is that intention is a force in the universe, and that everything and everyone is connected to this invisible force. Since this is an intelligent system we’re all a part of, and everything that arrives here came from that intelligence, it follows that if it wasn’t supposed to be here, then it wouldn’t be here. And if it’s here, then it’s supposed to be, and that’s enough for me. The very fact of your existence indicates that you have a purpose. As I mentioned, the key question for most of us is: “What is my purpose?” And I hear that question in as many forms as there are people wondering about it: What am I supposed to be doing? Should I be an architect, a florist, or a veterinarian? Should I help people or fix automobiles? Am I supposed to have a family or be in the jungle saving the chimpanzees? We’re befuddled by the endless number of options available to us, and wonder whether we’re doing the right thing.

  In this chapter, I urge you to forget these questions. Move instead to a place of faith and trust in the universal mind of intention, remembering that you emanated from this mind and that you’re a piece of it at all times.

  Intention and purpose are as beautifully and naturally intertwined as the double helix of your DNA. There are no accidents. You’re here for the purpose that you signed up for before you entered the world of particles and form. Many of the things that you refer to as problems result from the fact that you’re disconnected from intention and therefore unaware of your true spiritual identity. The process of polishing that connecting link and reconnecting is basic to your intention to live your life on purpose. As you cleanse this link, you’ll make two very important discoveries. First, you’ll discover that your purpose is not as much about what you do as it is about how you feel. Your second discovery will be that feeling purposeful activates your power of intention to create anything that’s consistent with the seven faces of intention.

  Feeling purposeful. In response to the question What should I do with my life?, I suggest that there’s only one thing you can do with it, since you came into this life with nothing and you’ll leave with nothing: You can give it away. You’ll feel most on purpose when you’re giving your life away by serving others. When you’re giving to others, to your planet, and to your Source, you’re being purposeful. Whatever it is that you choose to do, if you’re motivated to be of service to others while being authentically detached from the outcome, you’ll feel on purpose, regardless of how much abundance flows back to you.

  So, your intention is to live your life on purpos
e. But what is the spiritual Source like in this regard? It’s perpetually in the process of giving its life force away to create something from nothing. When you do the same, regardless of what you’re giving or creating, you’re in harmony with intention. You’re then on purpose, just as the universal mind is always acting purposefully.

  Take this one step further. Does the universal Source of all life have to think about what it’s doing with its powers? Is it concerned with bringing in gazelles or centipedes? Does it concern itself with where it lives or what it ultimately creates? No. Your Source is simply in the business of expressing itself through the seven faces of intention. The details are taken care of automatically. Likewise, your feelings of being on purpose in your life flow through expression of the seven faces of intention.

  Allow yourself to be in the feeling place within you that’s unconcerned with such things as vocational choices or doing the things you were destined to do. When you’re in the service of others, or extend kindness beyond your own boundaries, you’ll feel connected to your Source. You’ll feel happy and content, knowing that you’re doing the right thing.

  I get that feeling of inner completion and contentment that lets me know that I’m on purpose by reading my mail or hearing the comments I so frequently hear when I’m walking through airports or eating at restaurants: You changed my life, Wayne Dyer. You were there for me when I felt lost. This is different from receiving a royalty payment or a great review, which I also enjoy. The personal expressions of gratitude are what sustain me in knowing that I’m on purpose.