It was the year 2003 and I lived 40 minutes from the town where my kids went to school and lived. When I drove to pick them up I was often filled with nervous anticipation since the transition for them from life with Dad to life with Mom was not easy. And sure enough, the ride back to my house was often stressful. And then a dear friend suggested that as I got closer to their Dad's house I should envision what I hoped the reunion to be like, feel like, sound like. This person asked me to imagine what it would feel like to hug them, smell them and hear their voices. And so I tried it. The impact was profound.
There were other experiences too, where the power of intention was exposed too baldly to deny. One was a younger friend who was weary of dating and pessimistic of her chances of finding the man with whom she would co-create a family. I said to her, "The truth is that there is a man out there who is preparing to be part of your life. He doesn't know you yet but he is imagining you. Imagine him too. Make a place for him at your dinner table. Get ready." And she reports that this exercise resulted in the man who is now the father of her beautiful little girl.
Unfortunately "setting intentions" feels a bit too "New Agey" for many people. That's a shame. We could use all the help we can get. No harm in believing that our thoughts have power and setting out to think them with clear and hope-full intention might just change our lives.
Setting intention is not the same as holding cherished outcomes. Nothing like rigid expectations to ruin a party, a marriage, a trip. So with this trip I begin by filling my mind with images of the landscape and how I will travel through it—slowly and wide-eyed. I imagine meeting fellow travelers and sharing lamb stew and a pint. I imagine my inner clock getting reset by the sun and the moon. I imagine my mind unwinding like an old-fashioned clock and my body following its own rhythm.
What have you been imagining lately?
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