The Power of Intention Page 16
Outside of my chosen occupation, I feel purposeful in a myriad of ways virtually every single day. When I extend assistance to someone in need, when I take a moment to cheer up a disgruntled employee in a restaurant or a store, when I make a child laugh who sits otherwise ignored in a stroller, or even when I pick up a piece of litter and place it in a trash can, I feel that I’m giving myself away and, as such, feel purposeful.
Essentially what I’m saying is: Stay on purpose by expressing the seven faces of intention, and the details will find you. You’ll never have to ask what your purpose is or how to find it.
Your purpose will find you. In a previous chapter, I reviewed the obstacles to connecting to intention and pointed out that our thoughts are one of the major roadblocks. I stressed that we become what we think about all day long. What thoughts do you have that inhibit you from feeling as if you’re on purpose in your life? For instance, if you think that you’re separate from your purpose and that you’re drifting without direction through your life, then that’s precisely what you’ll attract.
Suppose, instead, that you know this is a purposeful universe where your thoughts, emotions, and actions are a part of your free will and are also connected to the power of intention. Suppose that your thoughts of being purposeless and aimless are really a part of your purpose. Just as the thought of losing someone you love makes you love them even more, or an illness makes you treasure your health, suppose that it takes the thought of your unimportance to make you realize your value.
When you’re awake enough to question your purpose and ask how to connect to it, you’re being prodded by the power of intention. The very act of questioning why you’re here is an indication that your thoughts are nudging you to reconnect to the field of intention. What’s the source of your thoughts about your purpose? Why do you want to feel purposeful? Why is a sense of purpose considered the highest attribute of a fully functioning person? The source of thought is an infinite reservoir of energy and intelligence. In a sense, thoughts about your purpose are really your purpose tryingto reconnect to you. This infinite reservoir of loving, kind, creative, abundant energy grew out of the originating intelligence, and is stimulating you to express this universal mind in your own unique way.
Reread the two display quotes at the beginning of this chapter. Buddha refers to the truth, and Sivananda suggests that God realization is our true purpose. This entire book is dedicated to connecting to the power of intention and letting go of ego, which tries to make us believe that we’re separate from our divine originating Source and tries to separate us from realizing ultimate truth. This ultimate truth is the source of your thoughts.
That inner beingness knows why you’re here, but your ego prods you to chase after money, prestige, popularity, and sensory pleasures and miss the purpose of living. You may feel sated and gain a reputation, but inside there’s that gnawing feeling typified by the old Peggy Lee song “Is That All There Is?” Focusing on the demands of the ego leaves you feeling unfulfilled. Deep within you, at the level of your being, is what you were intended to become, to accomplish, and to be. In that inner placeless place, you’re connected to the power of intention. It will find you. Make a conscious effort to contact it and listen. Practice being what you are at the source of your soul. Go to your soul level, where intention and purpose fit together so perfectly that you achieve the epiphany of simply knowing this is it.
Your silent inner knowing. Esteemed psychologist and philosopher William James once wrote: “In the dim background of our mind we know meanwhile what we ought to be doing. . . . But somehow we cannot start. . . . Every moment we expect the spell to break . . . but it does continue, pulse after pulse, and we float with it. . . .”
In my experience as a therapist, and as a speaker talking with thousands of people about their lives, I’ve come to the same conclusion. Somewhere, buried deep within each of us, is a call to purpose. It’s not always rational, not always clearly delineated, and sometimes even seemingly absurd, but the knowing is there. There’s a silent something within that intends you to express yourself. That something is your soul telling you to listen and connect through love, kindness, and receptivity to the power of intention. That silent inner knowing will never leave you alone. You may try to ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist, but in honest, alone moments of contemplative communion with yourself, you sense the emptiness waiting for you to fill it with your music. It wants you to take the risks involved, and to ignore your ego and the egos of others who tell you that an easier, safer, or more secure path is best for you.
Ironically, it’s not necessarily about performing a specific task or being in a certain occupation or living in a specific location. It’s about sharing yourself in a creative, loving way using the skills and interests that are inherently part of you. It can involve any activity: dancing, writing, healing, gardening, cooking, parenting, teaching, composing, singing, surfing—whatever. There’s no limit to this list. But everything on the list can be done to pump up your ego or to serve others. Satisfying your ego ultimately means being unfulfilled and questioning your purpose. This is because your Source is egoless, and you’re attempting to connect to your Source, where your purpose originates. If the activities on the list are in service to others, you feel the bliss of purposeful living, while paradoxically attracting more of what you’d like to have in your life.
My daughter Skye is an example of what I’m presenting here. Skye has known since she could first speak that she wanted to sing. It was almost as if she showed up here in the world with a destiny to sing for others. Over the years, she’s sung at my public appearances, first as a 4-year-old, and then at every age up until now, her 21st year. She has also sung on my public television specials, and the reaction to her singing has always been gratifying.
As a student immersed in a music program at a major university, Skye studied from academic and theoretical perspectives. One day in her junior year, we had a discussion that centered on her purpose and the silent inner knowing she’s always had. “Would you be upset,” she inquired, “if I left college? I just don’t feel like I can do what I know I have to do by sitting in a classroom and studying music theory any longer. I just want to write my own music and sing. It’s the only thing I think about, but I don’t want to disappoint you and Mom.”
How could I, who tells his readers not to die with their music still in them, tell my 21-year-old daughter to stay in college because that’s the right way, and it’s what I did? I encouraged her to listen to the silent knowing that I’ve seen evidence of since she was a toddler, and to follow her heart. As Gandhi once said: “To give one’s heart is to give all.” This is where God exists in Skye . . . and in you.
I did ask Skye to make a supreme effort to live her purpose by serving those who will listen to her music rather than focusing her attention on being famous or making money. “Let the universe handle those details,” I reminded her. “You write and sing because you have to express what is in that beautiful heart of yours.” I then asked her to think from the end, and act as if all that she wanted to create for herself was already here, waiting for her to connect to it.
Recently she voiced dismay at not having her own CD out in the world, and she was acting with thoughts of not having a CD out in the world. Consequently, no CD and lots of frustration. I strongly encouraged her to start thinking from the end by seeing the studio being available, the musicians ready to collaborate with her, the CD as a finished product, and her intention as a reality. I gave her a deadline to have a CD completed that I could make available at my lectures. I told her that she could sing to these audiences, as she has done sporadically in her life as well as on my public-television pledge shows.
Her thinking from the end materialized everything she needed, and the universal Spirit began to work with her unbending intent. She found the studio, the musicians she needed magically appeared, and she was able to have the CD produced.
Skye worked tirelessly day after day sing
ing her own favorites, as well as several that I wanted her to sing at my appearances, including “Amazing Grace,” “The Prayer of St. Francis,” and her own composition, “Lavender Fields,” which she sings from deep pride and passion. And lo and behold, today her CD, This Skye HasNo Limits, is now out and is being offered to the public whenever she sings at my lectures.
Skye’s presence on the stage with me brings so much joy and love to the presentation because she’s as closely aligned with those seven faces of intention as any human being I’ve ever known. So it’s no secret why this book is also dedicated to her—one of my angels of spiritual intention.
Inspiration and Purpose
When you’re inspired by a great purpose, everything will begin to work for you. Inspiration comes from moving back in-spirit and connecting to the seven faces of intention. When you feel inspired, what appeared to be risky becomes a path you feel compelled to follow. The risks are gone because you’re following your bliss, which is the truth within you. This is really love working in harmony with your intention. Essentially, if you don’t feel love, you don’t feel the truth, and your truth is all wrapped up in your connection to Spirit. This is why inspiration is such an important part of the fulfillment of your intention to live a life on purpose.
When I left the work that no longer inspired me, every single detail that I’d worried about was almost magically taken care of for me. I’d spent several months working for a large corporation where I was offered a salary three times higher than I’d been paid as a teacher, but I wasn’t in-spirit. That prodding inner knowing said, Do what you’re here to do, and teaching/counseling became my manifested daily purpose.
When I left a professorship at a major university for writing and public speaking, it wasn’t a risk; it was something I had to do because I knew that I couldn’t feel happy with myself if I didn’t follow my heart. The universe handled the details, because I was feeling love for what I was doing, and consequently, I was living my truth. By teaching love, that very same love guided me to my purpose, and the financial remuneration flowed to me with that same energy of love. I couldn’t see how it would work out, but I followed an inner knowing and never regretted it!
You may think it’s too risky to give up a salary, a pension, job security, or familiar surroundings because of a dim night-light in your mind that draws you to see why it’s turned on. I suggest that there are no risks at all if you pay attention to that light, which is your knowing. Combine your strong knowing with the faith that Spirit will provide, and you acknowledge the power of intention at work. Your trust in this inner knowing is all you need. I call it faith—not faith in an external god to provide you with a purpose, but faith in the call you’re hearing from the center of your being. You are a divine, infinite creation making the choice to be on purpose and to be connected to the power of intention. It all revolves around your being harmoniously connected to your Source. Faith eliminates the risk when you choose to trust that inner knowing about your purpose and become a channel for the power of intention.
Making Intention Your Reality
Below are ten ways to practice fulfilling your intention to live your life on purpose from this day forward:
Step 1: Affirm that in an intelligent system, no one shows up by accident, including you. The universal mind of intention is responsible for all of creation. It knows what it’s doing. You came from that mind, and you’re infinitely connected to it. There’s meaning in your existence, and you have the capacity to live from a perspective of purpose. The first step is to know that you’re here on purpose. This is not the same as knowing what you’re supposed to do. Throughout your life, what you do will change and shift. In fact, the changes can occur from hour to hour in each day of your life. Your purpose is not about what you do, it’s about your beingness, that place within you from which your thoughts emerge. This is why you’re called a human being rather than a human doing! Affirm in your own words, both in writing and in your thoughts, that you are here on purpose, and intend to live from this awareness at all times.
Step 2: Seize every opportunity, no matter how small, to give your life away in service. Get your ego out of your intention to live a life of purpose. Whatever it is that you want to do in life, make the primary motivation for your effort something or somebody other than your desire for gratification or reward.
The irony here is that your personal rewards will multiply when you’re focused on giving rather than receiving. Fall in love with what you’re doing, and let that love come from the deep, inner-dwelling place of Spirit. Then sell the feeling of love, enthusiasm, and joy generated by your efforts. If your purpose is felt by being Supermom, then put your energy and inner drive into those children. If it’s felt writing poetry or straightening teeth, then get your ego out of the way and do what you love doing. Do it from the perspective of making a difference for someone or for some cause, and let the universe handle the details of your personal rewards. Live your purpose doing what you do with pure love—then you’ll co-create with the power of the universal mind of intention, which is ultimately responsible for all of creation.
Step 3: Align your purpose with the field of intention. This is the most important thing you can do to fulfill your intentions. Being aligned with the universal field means having faith that your Creator knows why you’re here, even if you don’t. It means surrendering the little mind to the big mind, and remembering that your purpose will be revealed in the same way that you were revealed. Purpose, too, is birthed from creativeness, kindness, love, and receptivity to an endlessly abundant world. Keep this connection pure, and you’ll be guided in all of your actions.
It’s not fatalism to say that if it’s meant to be, then it can’t be stopped. This is having faith in the power of intention, which originated you and is within you. When you’re aligned with your originating Source, then this same Source will aid you in creating the life of your choice. Then, what happens feels exactly as if it was meant to be. And that’s because it is! You always have a choice in how to align yourself. If you stay focused on making demands on the universe, you’ll feel as if demands are being placed on you in your life. Stay focused on lovingly asking, How may I use my innate talents and desire to serve? and the universe will respond with the identical energy by asking you, How may I serve you?
Step 4: Ignore what anyone else tells you about your purpose. Regardless of what anyone might say to you, the truth about your feeling purposeful is that only you can know it, and if you don’t feel it in that inner place where a burning desire resides, it isn’t your purpose. Your relatives and friends may attempt to convince you that what they feel is your destiny. They may see talents that they think will help you make a great living, or they may want you to follow in their footsteps because they think you’ll be happy doing what they’ve done for a lifetime. Your skill at mathematics or decorating or fixing electronic equipment might indicate a high aptitude for a given pursuit—but in the end, if you don’t feel it, nothing can make it resonate with you.
Your purpose is between you and your Source, and the closer you get to what that field of intention looks and acts like, the more you’ll know that you’re being purposefully guided. You might have zero measurable aptitudes and skills in a given area, yet feel inwardly drawn to doing it. Forget the aptitude-test results, forget the absence of skills or know-how, and most important, ignore the opinions of others and listen to your heart.
Step 5: Remember that the all-creating field of intention will work on your behalf. Albert Einstein is credited with saying that the most important decision we ever make is whether we believe we live in a friendly universe or a hostile universe. It’s imperative that you know that the all-creating field of intention is friendly and will work with you as long as you see it that way. The universe supports life; it flows freely to all and is endlessly abundant. Why choose to look at it in any other way? All of the problems we face are created by our belief that we’re separate from God and each other, leading us
to be in a state of conflict. This state of conflict creates a counterforce causing millions of humans to be confused about their purpose. Know that the universe is always willing to work with you on your behalf, and that you’re always in a friendly, rather than hostile, world.
Step 6: Study and replicate the lives of people who’ve known their purpose. Whom do you admire the most? I urge you to read biographies of these people and explore how they lived and what motivated them to stay on purpose when obstacles surfaced. I’ve always been fascinated by Saul of Tarsus (later called St. Paul), whose letters and teachings became the source of a major portion of the New Testament. Taylor Caldwell wrote a definitive fictional account of St. Paul’s life called Great Lion of God, which inspired me enormously. I was also deeply touched by the purposeful manner in which St. Francis of Assisi lived his life as exemplified in the novel St. Francis, by Nikos Kazantzakis. I make it a point to use my free time to read about people who are models for purposeful living, and I encourage you to do the same.
Step 7: Act as if you’re living the life you were intended to live, even if you feel confused about this thing called purpose. Invite into your life every day whatever it might be that makes you feel closer to God and brings you a sense of joy. View the events you consider obstacles as perfect opportunities to test your resolve and find your purpose. Treat everything from a broken fingernail to an illness to the loss of a job to a geographical move as an opportunity to get away from your familiar routine and move to purpose. By acting as if you’re on purpose and treating the hurdles as friendly reminders to trust in what you feel deeply within you, you’ll be fulfilling your own intention to be a purposeful person.