Intentional Living
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We all have this inner desire for significance yet most of us don’t realise that we can live from this place. A well-lived story of significance is built when we focus on adding value to others and making a difference in their lives. When we live for significance, we are telling people around us that, it is/they are important to us. Almost everyone wants to live a life of meaning and significance, whether or not they express the desire.
To put significance in our stories, we must do things out of our comfort zone. And we must make changes that we may find difficult. We often avoid trying to make those changes. “But know this: though not everything that we face can be changed, nothing can be changed until we face it.” (John C. Maxwell)
Your story won’t be perfect. Many things will change. But your heart will sing. It will sing the song of significance. It will sing, “I am making a difference!” And that will give you satisfaction down to your core and I believe the spiritual level.
Many of us go through our days awake, but we tend to follow patterns we’ve developed over the years. We are going through the motions, doing things at home, online, at work without much forethought.
Contrast this with the idea of an Intentional Life: everything you do is done with consciousness, fulfilling one of your core values. Everything is done with a conscious intent.
What if that changed for you?
What if you became very aware of your intention for any action, no matter how mundane? How would that transform the action, and your life?
What if you washed the dishes, but first thought about doing it as a service to your family, to keep your family home nice and clean, and as a form of meditation for yourself, mindfulness or a prayer of thankfulness? Doing the dishes could suddenly take on much more importance, and cease to be boring.
What if driving to work was done after declaring an intention to help others, to encourage those around you, to discover a sense of satisfaction through work? The drive might be much happier, and you may even be less likely to get irate when someone cuts you off in traffic.
Go on try it today, I dare you! You will be surprised at the shifts that take place in your world.
