Home > Blog Index > Living Our Intentions After New Year’s Day

“Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do.”
—Rumi 

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt 

Not long ago, my daughter took a trip to California during school break. She set her intention to fully experience the abundant outdoors adventures available there: rock climbing, parasailing, biking, and boating. One such exploration included a day of surfing. When I asked her about that experience, she said just getting out into deep enough water without getting knocked over by a wave was a huge challenge. Once in deep water, she had to wait for a good wave, turn back toward shore, and then jump up on the board—balance, more than pure physical strength, was a necessary skill for riding the wave to shore.

For many of us, the beginning of the New Year often starts in a similar way. We have a lot of enthusiasm and new, exciting goals for our life. We want to be healthier, happier, more peaceful, and more content. We want our relationship, job, family, and community experiences to be fulfilling. We want work that is meaningful, and we want our earth home to be treated with care and reverence—providing nourishment and splendor for all.

These intentions are wonderful. They serve to guide us toward the vision we hold for ourselves and the vision we hold for our future.

Returning to the surfing metaphor, our intentions may also require that we get past big waves threatening to knock us down before we even begin to reach our goals. These waves are the challenges we encounter along the way. Such challenges may require perseverance, work, and skill. They may require sustained practice. They may require getting back up and trying again and again when we don’t immediately succeed. For example, we might have to become more mindful of the foods we purchase if we want to eat healthier. We might have to incorporate a new routine into our daily or weekly schedule: Monday night as workout night or Friday night as date night for instance. It helps to remember that change is frequently met with resistance, especially if we have other family members with agendas different from our own. We might also encounter resistance from within because hard work is required, and we thought it would be easy.

What is your vision for 2015? What tools, skills, or support do you need to help you achieve your dreams? What intention can we collectively work toward—both locally and globally—to create the beautiful future we envision?

As noted by German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!”

Let’s begin, together.

In joy & gratitude, 

Diana J. Ensign

P.S. Don’t miss these two upcoming events:  

Stress Reduction Workshop: Cultivating Inner Calm
All Souls Unitarian Church
Saturday, January 24, 9:30 am – 11:00
More information on this events is available on the appearances page on this website.

Accessing Deeper Levels of Peace: Live Your Authentic Life
Blooming Life Yoga
Saturday, April 18, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
More information on this event is here.