Silence can mean a million things to different people; its meaning is very subjective. The people I have known are often silent because they are thinking about what to say when they are angry or simply because they are angry. They use silence to process their emotions and think things over before they speak. Other people I have met and observed use their silence to punish and abuse; they withdrawing their voice, love, support and approval in hopes of inflicting pain and suffering. I have yet to meet people whose silence can be interpreted as a time of peace or in the same manner as it is to me. I am sure that they exist, but I have yet to meet them. Maybe I have been unlucky, but the fact still remains that I have known silence to be a person’s calm before the storm.
Perhaps it is why people have always thought negatively when I was silent; because it was the message that their silence often represented. However, it was always far from that. My silence has always freed me from the pressure to perform for society, and thoughts of the world or perhaps the thoughts of the world haven’t let my mind be free. I am silent when I neither know you, or trust you enough to open up. I am also silent when trying to figure out something, when I am thinking of a plan and even when I am trying to think of nothing. Sometimes my silence has been an expression of my boundaries and other times it's a consequence of my introversion and social anxiety. On rare occasions, I am silent because there is something wrong with the other person that’s torturing my mind, or something is going terribly wrong for me.
People have played guessing games in their heads and come up with their own conclusions regarding my silence. Growing up, my silence meant guilt was trapped in my throat. My parents would assume that I had no words to say to them because I was somehow in the wrong. To my classmates, it would mean that I was unsatisfied with them. They would see my silence as a way for me to express my feeling of being better than them. Talk about projecting one's insecurities.
Some of the people that knew me saw it as me planning on how to let the relationship down easy and the few I deeply loved would assume that I was angry or mad about something in the relationship. Sometimes that was true, I was conflict avoidant. Either way, like you, my silence has been intentional, like a lot of other things in my life. And that's what I would like to discuss in today's post.
I have thought of the power of intention in virtually all of my waking hours; and the books, articles, and conversations seemed to conspire to keep me on this path.
So here it is: Moving with Intention.
During the past several years, I have been so strongly attracted to studying intention that I have read so many books by psychological, sociological, and spiritual writers. My research reveals a fairly common definition of intention as a strong purpose or aim, accompanied by a determination to produce a desired result.
People driven by intention are described as having a strong will that won't permit anything to interfere with achieving their inner desire. I imagine a sort of pit-bull kind of resolve or determination. If, like me, you are one of those people with a never-give-up attitude combined with an internal picture that propels you toward fulfilling your dreams, you fit this description of someone with intention. You are, most likely, a super-achiever and probably proud of your ability to recognize and take advantage of opportunities that arise. So what are your intentions for 2024?
In 2024, it is my intention to:
1. Banish doubt.
When doubt is banished, abundance flourishes and anything is possible. I intend to use my thoughts to keep creating a life I love so if I doubt your abilities, then I'm setting myself up for failure.
Even when nothing seems to indicate that I'm accomplishing what I desire, I refuse to entertain doubt. As they say, "Delulu is the solulu".
2. Be creative.
Being creative means trusting my own purpose and having an attitude of unbending intent in my daily thoughts and activities. Staying creative means giving form to my personal intentions. A way to start giving them form is to literally put them in writing.
For instance, yesterday in my productivity journal, I wrote out my intentions, and here are a few of them that stare at me each day as I write:
My intention is for all of my daily activities to be directed by God and my intuition.
My intention is to love and radiate my love to my writing and anyone who might read the words on my blog and social media pages.
My intention is to trust in what comes through me and to be a vehicle for my Higher power) judging none of it.
My intention is to do all that I can to elevate the collective consciousness.
3. Be Kind towards myself
I think of myself like this: a universal intelligence subsisting throughout nature inherent in every one of its manifestations. I am one of those manifestations. I am a piece of this universal intelligence-a slice of God, if you will.
I will be good to myself, which is being good to God, since all that God created was good. This is reason enough to treat myself kindly. And in my daily journaling, I will remind myself that I want to be kind to myself in all the choices that I make about my daily life. I will treat myself with kindness when I eat, exercise, play, work, love, and everything else.
Ponder these words thoughtfully: God is love, "and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in me, and I in him."
4. Cultivate a sense of humility
When humility enters your soul, you know that you're not alone in this world. To quote the Talmud, "Even if you be otherwise perfect, you fail without humility."
5. Cultivate a sense of generosity
If asked, "Why do you give us light and warmth?" I believe that the sun would answer, "It's my nature to do so".
We must be like the sun, and cultivate our giving nature. The more you give of yourself, no matter how little, the more you open the door for life to pour in. This not only compensates you for your gift, it also increases the desire to give, and consequently the ability to receive as well.
6. Remind myself that I'm never alone.
I have a tendancy to isolate, especially when I'm struggling. Even though I have cultivated a solid support system, I still struggle with asking for help. It is my intention to keep working on this.
How do you see the world you live in? What do you think people in general are really like? Do you believe that evil is triumphing over good? Is the world filled with egocentric, selfish people? Can the little guy ever get ahead? Are government entities and all their representatives corrupt and untrustworthy? Is life unfair? Is it impossible to get ahead if you don't have connections? Even though all of these attitudes emerge from your own assessment of your personal interaction with life, there is also the good experiences. If your thoughts reflect a pessimistic view of the world, then your intentions and life experience will reflect that. lf your thoughts reflect an optimistic view of the world, then that's how you will feel and experience life as well.
With this in mind, what are your intentions for 2024?
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