“Would  you like some more mashed potatoes?”

“No thank you.  I’ve had plenty.”

Ω

When we bring intention into our lives, it eventually spills over into all aspects of our life.  For example, we learn to bring intention to the current “moment,”  whether that moment is a minute, an hour, a day, week, year, decade or lifetime.   When we learn to live a life of intention, we understand that we need to be intentional with our actions and behaviors.

When we live a life of intention, we are making conscious decisions on how we would like to spend our precious life’s “time.”  As you practice more and more intentional living, you will see that there are many other areas that can benefit from conscious decision-making.  Take for example, “intentional spending.”  That can apply to “monetary spending,” “caloric spending,” and other areas such as “energy spending.”

To paraphrase, it means to be conscientious of your money, diet, and activities.  When you spend with intention, you are making a conscious decision on where to place the money, that you have spent some of your life’s energy earning.  You will also decide on where to place the calories that you will consume.   Similarly, conscious decisions can be made on where to spend your body’s energy.

When we understand that intentional living goes beyond the concept of “living the moment,” we begin to see areas of our lives where we may have been living on auto-pilot.  For example, you walk into the kitchen and see lots of various food items visible on the counter.   Do you instinctively grab a cookie while looking at your phone, not even tasting the cookie?  Does that make you feel like it was “worth” the spending of your valuable calories?

Now suppose you prepare a nice meal with the family.  You light candles and lower the lights.  The plate is carefully filled with foods that you have decided you would like to eat.  You have chosen to spend your calories on this plate of food.  Do you think you have received a better value for your caloric intake?

The same applies when you are walking down the aisle of a large store, and you impulsively place things into your cart – without much thought.  When you get home, you begrudgingly “unload” all of your purchases and place them on the floor, so you can stop and put your feet up.  A few days later, those “impulse” purchases are still sitting where you left them.  Does that seem like intentional spending?

InspiraCard

When we become aware of how “living with intention” can help us focus our “energies,” we see all of the areas where we “spent” those energies unnecessarily in the past.  Open your eyes and your mind to make decisions consciously and you will be on your path to “intentional living.”

Written Tue, Nov 25, 2014 8:05 – 8:16 AM MST