2018 is here. At Spiritual Life Center, we’re calling it The Year of Intention.
Many of you have set out to achieve new resolutions for the New Year. There are relationships to be healed or created, weight to lose, projects to complete and a letting go of the things that no longer serve our best interests.
Some years, we succeed in meeting those resolutions. Many times we do not, and the resolutions end up fading away.
Many of us have heard that we create our future, but that’s not the whole story. What we can do is direct our thoughts. Those thoughts create our daily habits and choices. Those habits and choices, in turn, create our future.
When it comes to setting the desired direction for the New Year, or even a single day, it is important to establish a clear intention. Setting an intention is nothing more than making a focused, decisive thought. That intention will begin to activate a great power within you, even if you don’t know how to achieve your particular goal.
There is a story that comes to mind that illustrates this point.
There was once a huge forest fire. A parrot was able to fly away from it and reach safe ground. But the parrot was deeply concerned for his friends who were left behind and in danger of being consumed by the fire.
So the parrot found a little rag, dipped the cloth in a river and flew over the forest in order to shake out a few droplets at a time and extinguish the fire. His intention was to rescue his friends.
According to the story, the Gods were constantly looking down from on high for any unusual happenings on Earth. If anything unusual took place, the seat of the chief God got hot. Needless to say, this was an unusual event and the chief God’s seat heated up rather quickly.
As the God looked down, he said: “What is this silly bird doing? He thinks he can put out that huge fire by sprinkling a few drops of water in the forest.” But the more the God witnessed what was happening, the more interested he became. He was so interested, he wanted to get a closer look and decided to turn into a great eagle.
The God then flew down alongside the parrot and asked him, “What are you doing?”
The parrot replied, “I’m trying to help my friends. They’re caught up in this big fire.”
The eagle responded by telling the parrot, “You’re just a little bird. You can’t put out a fire.” But the parrot had a clear intention.
He admonished the eagle and said, “At a time like this, I don’t need your advice. If you want to help, that’s cool. Otherwise just fly off and do whatever you do.”
The parrot proceeded to dip himself and his little rag in the river and continued to fly back to the fire where he released his droplets of water. Each time he went over the fire, his wings got more and more singed, but he did not give up.
The eagle watched in amazement as the bird continued to fly through the flames. He was determined to save his friends—mice, rabbits and all the other animals in the forest.
The God-turned-eagle saw the love this parrot had for his fellow creatures. As a result, the God’s heart broke open with compassion. The God begin to weep. Then a great thunderstorm took place. The clouds opened up. A storm occurred and the rain fell. The fire was extinguished, the forest cooled and the parrot’s animal friends were saved.
It happened because the parrot set an intention to save his friends. He didn’t know how to make that happen. But he directed his thought and moved in the direction of his intention, and providence supported his efforts.
This year, direct your thoughts. Make this the Year of Intention. And watch as the universe conspires to make your intentions a reality, for you and our world.
Peace and Blessings,
James