Set Your Intention

A few days ago I was in a sour mood. I felt physically uncomfortable at work, mentally fuzzy and generally anxious. It got to me that there wasn't anything necessarily going wrong at the time. Yet I couldn't shake that nagging irritability. When the mental spate passed, I recalled a little trick I took from Buddhism 101: set your intention. I learned this during meditation instruction. It keeps the meditator's mind more anchored and allows the sitting session to become naturally grounded. It's simple to do. You just take 30 seconds to a minute to remind yourself where you are, what you're trying to accomplish, and that you're going to do your best to accomplish it.

It's not just for meditation, however. Oh no, fool. If you transfer that 30-seconds-to-a-minute-intention to once in the morning after waking up and once more before bed, you may find a little more clarity and direction throughout your day.

As an example, I set an intention last Thursday morning before leaving for work. I said loudly to a voyeuristic squirrel, "I will endeavor to be deliberate and calm in my actions and my speech and my thinking. Because when I do this, I am a more effective communicator, I feel a sense of control, and I generate an aura of lightness and confidence. That's right, squirrel. That's what happens." Badda-boom! My brain was continuously kicking in to remind me of that little speech I made. I had a pretty good day. I attribute that to taking the time to permeate my head with a floating instruction as to how to present myself to myself and the rest of the world.

I picked that particular intention because lately I've been experiencing increased agitation and figitiness. This tends to occur when the seasons change and I become increasingly busy. Fall to winter is always my boon time for theatre projects. Oftentimes I'm running around too much to focus on meditation. Setting my intention is a good way to recapture the essence of that much-needed self-awareness without fighting for meditation time. To all my pals out there who sometimes say, "Ah, I need to meditate more!" I say, "Hey dude or lady or voyeuristic squirrel. Take two 30-second periods of time. One in the morning and one at night to remind yourself where you are and how you wish to be. Do it with optimism and in the spirit of curiosity and play with the world. You might just find life to be a little more bearable."

I mean, you have a minute, right? You don't? Oh... I apologize. I'm glad you at least found the time to read this post.