This month I started participating in a year long course called
Evolve that works on creating more consciousness and intention in personhood, parenting, partnership and prosperity. It includes webinars and Q&A's about those topics and daily assignments for personal introspection, journaling, and intention setting.
The daily questions are usually along these lines:
What am I grateful for?
How do I feel right now?
What is my intention today?
What am I joyfully anticipating?
What have I learned lately?
Simple. Right? It takes just minutes yet it can be really helpful.
And that last question - "What have I learned lately?" - has made me more aware of some really great things I've learned in a new way lately. Here are some from recently:
Intention Works
I find that having a defined and written an intention helps me remember what it is I'm going for throughout the day. It is a touchstone I come back to again and again throughout the day.
For me, the written part is really key - I have been mentally making intentions forever. But something about writing it down makes it more concrete for me. It takes so little time but gives such benefit.
Most of my intentions end up being some variation of
Just lighten up and enjoy this moment. Not those exact words necessarily - but that seems to be the underlying gist of what I want to do in every single area of my life - as a person, parent, partner, and towards prosperity. It applies everywhere - having more fun, being less reactive, making the most of the blessings that are right in front of my face. My intentions are manifesting much faster now that I am putting focused intention on them every day in written form.
Don't Wait to Love or Help
Our extended sickness has taught me the power of love and support in healing. I noticed that our biggest spikes in health came when we got an influx of love and support. This has made me understand, in a deeper way, that when people express that they are struggling, we might as well just go ahead and give them some love right then. No waiting because we aren't their closest friend or because we are afraid they don't want our help or because life is too busy. (These are often my reasons for waiting.) Now I think: do it now. Say a prayer. Send them a kind email. Take them a meal or some flowers. Offer to keep their kids. Whatever. Do something.
And I'm trying to extend this to all areas of life, in general. I am striving to open my heart more and more so that I can love people right now. It turns out that's not always an easy thing to do. It feels risky sometimes. It feels like trying to penetrate layers and layers of protection sometimes. But what the heck - I'm giving it a try.
Don't Wait to Accept Love or Help
And the other side of love and help is, of course, accepting it. This has been another big lesson for me over the past two months. Somehow I have held the belief that accepting help is a failure (but not for other people - just for me. Ha!) I've been aware of this weirdo attitude for years but only recently came to know that I have to shift it. So when help started popping up when we were sick, I made myself accept it. Oh, and sometimes it made me so squirmy. I have struggled with tremendous (ridiculous) guilt if I allowed someone to help me. What a strange thing.
But what I've realized is that sometimes the strongest, most competent choice is actually to accept (and if necessary, ask for) help. And accepting that gift is also a giving of a gift. There has to be a flow.
I know, these are no revolutionary thoughts but for me, it has been revolutionary in experience, in feeling it more deeply, and in choosing something different that is more in line with what I want.
