Day 6 The Power of Intention, Not Attachment

Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.

-Dr. Samuel Johnson

Life Lesson # 5
Life Lesson #6


The Power of Intention, Not Attachment

You don’t give up the intention, and you don’t give up the desire. You give up your attachment to the result.

-George Bernard Shaw

Understanding can come from the strangest most unexpected places. It was a busy day for me. Running back and forth between my office and my home, trying to get everything on my to-do list accomplished by 5pm. Since I normally work late I knew this would be a stretch, but nothing was going to stop me from trying. Well here it is 4:54pm and trying isn’t getting it done…maybe tomorrow.

In the mad rush to get things done today I also had to deal with the unexpected interruptions of the normal day. The problem wasn’t the interruptions themselves the problem was that I neglected to schedule in any cushion time. So at 4pm when my phone rang I had a choice to make; reread Lessons 5 & 6 so that I could figure out how to interpret them for this blog, or answer the phone...I answered the phone. It was after all an important call; little did I know just how important it was.

Actually although the call was important what happened during the call was the answer to the question I had been pondering most of the day; how to convey the point in today’s lesson. I was at home sitting at my desk, talking on the phone when my dog Cha Cha came out of nowhere jumping, barking and trying like crazy to get my attention. I tried, without much success to get her to settle down but she was just too wound up.
The person on the other end laughed a little but kept talking and Cha Cha kept barking. I snapped my fingers and the loud barks turned into low whimpers. She sat right in front of me alternating the whining and barking. Then she started jumping and pacing back and forth side to side. I snapped my fingers again, and she sat once more. It wasn’t long before the person on the other end of the phone realized that Cha Cha didn’t care how important the call was.

I hung up the phone and Cha Cha sat in front of me waiting. I knew what she wanted. I knew her buddy was outside and she wanted out. But I had a preverbal bone to pick with her, so I made her wait…not long, but long enough for her to calm herself a bit, I’d say 30 seconds and then I gave her what she wanted. Kuma was there waiting for her, and she was in her glory.

As I watched Cha Cha play in the snow with her friend I realized that she had the right idea; she knew what she wanted and she persisted until she got it. She backed off just a little when she didn’t get anywhere but still she kept the goal in mind coming back to it little by little approaching the goal in different ways. Now this may seem like a small thing to you but to her getting outside and playing Kuma is like winning the lottery and Cha Cha’s strategy paid off because she eventually realized her goal. Her persistence paid off.

Today’s lessons are about setting intentions, letting go of the outcome and being persistent. I know that the above story might be a simple example of today’s lessons, however sometime the simplest explanations are the best.

I’m not a dog whisperer or anything like that, but I know Cha Cha well enough to say that she doesn’t give up easily. I also know that what she did do had nothing to do with giving up. She may have backed off a little, but she did not give up…she altered her approach. She changed her approach…and she came out on top.

So what did they want us to take away from these lessons? Set your intention on the dream and allow your persistent to propel you towards it, and don’t let your focus be the outcome. Know your dream, talk about it, but don’t be so distracted and attached to the outcome that you lose sight of the journey and end up creating more roadblocks for yourself.

If along your journey you encounter a roadblock or two, what would you do? How would you handle it? Quit? Throw in the towel? The advice the authors give is don’t quit and the advice that I would give you? Don’t quit. Take a step back, acknowledge your progress, celebrate your accomplishments, re-evaluate, change the path, take smaller steps, turn the road block into a question or a request that you can ask yourself or someone else. Get support, don’t give up.
Exercise 1

1. In your prosperity journal identify a goal or dream that you have encountered a road block in your progress.
2. Determine if you can break it down into smaller steps.
3. Turn the road block into a question or request
4. Review and notice which one you are inspired to work on and go with that.
5. Acknowledge the progress you have made, celebrate.

Today’s lessons complete the 1st Essential Ingredient. It may be a great time to go back over all the lessons and exercises and see where you are with each and if you have any questions. If you do have questions, comments or suggestions please feel free to post them.

Tomorrow

Essential Ingredient #2


Defining Moments


Life Lesson #1 You’re Never Stuck



Until Then, Smile Often



Barbara
http://www.lifetude.com/