Intention is such a powerful thing.

Setting intentions can get us to the life we truly want, maybe faster than any other avenue.

I was propped up on a bolster in a community discussion last night about co-creating a life we love, and we did a short exercise where a lady, Mary, repeated three phrases after our charismatic Belgian facilitator, Dieter. Mary, in her striped blue dress, sat comfortably perched with feet tucked underneath her, hands folded in her lap as she repeated the following phrases:

“I wish I were happy.”
“I want to be happy.”
“I hope to be happy.”

As she spoke these words, her lovely face drooped. Her voice, lowered, sounded desolate. Her smile quickly faded, and her whole person seemed tired, hopeless, and sad.

She reflected afterwards that just saying those words made her feel down, as if happiness was unobtainable.

Then Dieter had her say one more very simple phrase:

“I intend to be happy.”

Mary sat up straighter, determination dripping from her voice. “I intend to be happy,” she repeated. And she smiled.

You see, when we hope, wish, or want for something, we are saying that whatever we hope for, wish for, want is external to us. It’s outside of us, and it’s something that we don’t already have access to. But we hope/wish/want to…someday.

We’ve all probably realized by now that someday is code for never. And maybe that’s how we truly feel.

But that view leaves us powerless to create real change. If something is external to us, we don’t have control over it.

It either comes to us or it doesn’t.

Let’s take this deeper. Ever tried to use positive affirmations to create lasting change? When we use positive statements or affirmations like, “I am happy” when we’re really not, it can further derail us versus getting us where we want to go. It’s like putting a Band-Aid over a broken bone; it’s superficial and fundamentally unhelpful. It doesn’t jive with our current reality and can further throw us off course toward disillusionment and even despair.

But then, there’s intention.

By saying I intend to do/have something, I am setting the tone to create something beautiful—to take control and consciously choose to make it happen. It’s up to me to pursue and uphold my own intentions with every choice I make, every action I take. I get to choose to make myself happy. I get to choose happiness (or whatever I want) in any given situation. At the very least, I get to choose to take the steps that will get me there.

Intention.

It’s so simple, yet so full of power.

Author: Kristen Bagwill

Editor: Renée Picard

Image: Doug Robichaud/Unsplash