Posts Tagged ‘intentionality’

Thinking New Years Resolutions Think Intention

December 29, 2014

Most of us throughout the world will be reflecting on 2014 and planning for 2015 this week.

We all know that New Year’s Resolutions don’t work. I teach a Yoga class at the local YMCA. In a couple of weeks, my class attendance will leap from 12-14 to 25. Two weeks later–back to 12.

The fitness center will be busy–for about a month. Then back to normal.

We’ll read books. Dream of starting businesses. Find love. Become nicer people.

Except–we won’t.

What if we started with what sort of person we wanted to be? What would be our character? How would we treat people?

Then, what if we prayed daily intentionally for God to bring a new opportunity to serve into our lives? What if we prayed intentionally for new people to come into our lives?

I have experienced that. I’m now living it.

But I’m not through. I’m still praying intentionally for my ministries. I’m still praying for God to bring people into my life. Maybe they will minister to me. Or, maybe they are there for me to minister to.

I have not made resolutions or set goals for many years. I pray for opportunities and for the wisdom to recognize and act on them. It works much better.

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A Daily Routine With Intention

December 15, 2014

A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh.
Psalm 14:30

What is your daily routine?

We all have one. Sometimes it just happens. Sometimes we plan it. Maybe we start with good intentions and then fall into habits that are not productive.

Do we start the day sleeping until the last minute? Then we rush to get organized and out to work or the kids to school or cut our morning workout short?

Successful people invariably start the day early. Getting up while others sleep, reading, meditating, organizing the day–these are the opposite of the first routine.

The first routine never allows us to settle down and get focused. The second one leads to a tranquil mind. The advice from Proverbs helps here. We are more focused, can work better, have a measure of control of the day, can negotiate around things that tend to upset the day.

David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, describes a concept from martial arts–having a mind like water. A pebble thrown into a pond causes ripples. But soon the ripples dissipate and the pond returns to stillness.

Thus, can we begin our day with intention and have that tranquil mind.

I like to arise at 5:30. Mediate, read from the Bible or other spiritual writing, write this blog (unless I do it the day before), eat breakfast, work out, then write for my professional blog.

Benjamin Franklin had worked out a time card for his daily routine. I just saw something on his card that I will be incorporating in my routine.

At the beginning of the day, he asked, “What good shall I do today?”

At the end of the day, he asked, “What good have I done today?”

That reflection lends even more intentionality to the day. We can begin and end the day bringing our minds back to stillness.

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