Intent

Things seem to be at a standstill with our various projects — and I can’t stay in a holding pattern for very long before I get antsy and find some creative distraction to entertain me…and I have...

I’ve turned my attention back on the “teen book” that I started last year (during another holding pattern of mine).

With everything that has happened over this past year, we’ve decided to revamp and broaden the focus of this second book.  With this book, we want to encourage everyone — teens and adults, alike — to live life to the fullest.  The book is intended to help us identify and deal with common hurdles and barriers that prevent us from following our dreams — which are the same hurdles and barriers that are preventing us from allowing others into our lives and hearts.

We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us on this second book, so it’ll be awhile before you’ll see it out — and you don’t need to wait on us before you start on your journey, but I want to caution you on something … 

Before running full-speed ahead with anything, we really need to understand the intent behind our actions.  Are we propelling ourselves to a new phase in our lives… or are we running away from our past? 

The intent behind our actions is important because it’s our intent that leads us to our ultimate outcome. 

For example, when we’re running away from something or someone, we’re focusing on getting away — and not on where we’re actually heading.  We just want to be someplace else or with someone else.  It doesn’t matter where else and with whom — just that it’s not the place or person we’ve just left.  By focusing on what we’re running away from, we can easily run right into a situation much worse than the one we’ve just left.

On the other hand, if we’re running toward something or someone, we’re looking forward to what’s ahead of us — not at what’s behind us.  We’re focusing on the future… and not on the past.

Another thing to keep in mind:  Like it or not, we’re not an island unto ourselves.  We need to take others into consideration whenever we make an important decision.  

This doesn’t mean we ignore our dreams; it means we have to be smart in the way we achieve them.  Our intent needs to focus on achieving our dreams without doing harm to ourselves or others.

Because everything is interrelated, everything we do affects others.  This means that every encounter, every decision, and every consequence to our actions affects others. 

Therefore, in everything we do, our intent must be focused on harming no one — i.e., ourselves or others — in whatever we pursue. 

That’s why, before you set off on your new adventure, it’s important to understand the intent and motive behind your actions — and focus them in the right direction. 

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