On any given day, I consciously see the word "intention" about 25 times. Sometimes, it's in e-mails talking about the "intention setting power" of a certain day or moon phase. Sometimes, it's a discussion about the importance of setting intentions at the start of a new project. More often than not, though, the word "intention" is liberally sprinkled across all aspects of life as part of the phrase, "It's your intention that matters."
It's a well-meaning concept, but at the core, it's a lie.
I don't mean to say that intention is not important at all, but by itself, intention is empty. It has to be followed with actions, and the result of that combination is the impact. It's an equation in which all parts matter, and I believe the sum matters more than the first factor.
In semi-mathematical form:
intention + action= impact.
impact > intention.
In story-problem form:
A teenager thoughtlessly threw a lit firecracker into the woods. (I don't know his reasoning, but I'll assume it was boredom for this entry.) As a result, a wildfire was started that spanned 75 square miles, cost $40 million, and devastated the ecosystem of Eagle Creek and the Columbia River Gorge- scientists estimate recovery will take decades and the area will never be the same. His intention may have been to alleviate his boredom in that moment, but the impact of his actions had far-reaching, disastrous consequences that affect much more than just him. He has apologized, and that is important, but it's not an "undo" button- the damage has been done. Now, he has to go forward and learn how to deal with the impact he's already had, while also learning how to make a different, more positive one in the future. This example may seem extreme, but it's meant to underscore the fact that one's intention is not and does not function as a metaphorical "Get Out of Jail Free" card. Intention used correctly is like a recipe.
Let's say the intention is to make chocolate cake for a wedding. We follow that intention with the actions of assembling, combining, and cooking the ingredients for the cake.
We can make adjustments or tweaks to it as we go, such as substituting applesauce, avocado, or mayonnaise for the oil if we discover we're out. As long as we follow the rest of the instructions, it will not taste like any of those things. It will taste like a chocolate cake. We will have fulfilled our intention.
However, what if we don't take the action of adding the cocoa powder? Then it's not a chocolate cake. What if we don't complete the action of baking it? Then it's not a cake, it's just a bowl of batter.
If we showed up to a wedding with a bowl of batter in lieu of the chocolate wedding cake we'd promised, we'd probably be murdered by the bride we'd have failed in our intention, and we'd have let a lot of people down in a very important moment. Saying to them, "I'm sorry, I intended to bring the chocolate wedding cake, but instead I just brought a bowl of batter" would not fix anything and they would probably cheer as the bride murdered us.
The goal is not just to set or have good intentions in life. The goal is to set or have good intentions, follow that with actions that will help bring those to reality and fruition, and for that fruition to have an impact that matches the intention.
In semi-mathematical form:
positive intention + positive actions= positive impact= goal.
It looks deceptively simple here, but we're humans, and the truth is, sometimes we mess this up, and the equation ends up looking like this:
positive intention + well-meaning but negative actions= negative impact= NOT the goal. (This is also summed up in the old, familiar adage, "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.")
So, how do we avoid this error, or at least make it less often?
Work backwards.
Instead of thinking of it in a one-directional, completely linear way, we need to let our intentions and the impact we want to have inform each other, and then choose actions that align with those things. If we do misstep, we choose additional/different actions that bring us back into alignment. My intention when I sat down to write this entry was... well, to write this entry. I wanted the impact of this entry to be that people examine how they think of intentions, how they implement them, and to consider the possibility that the importance does not rest solely with that initial step, but rather the end result of the entire process.
If I had not written it, or if I had instead written about puppies, or if I had not published it- if any of these actions would not have been chosen and implemented, I would have fallen short of fulfilling my intention.
Since I did fulfill it, we're in a different place.
Most likely searching for applesauce, avocado, or mayonnaise chocolate cake recipes, but also, hopefully, learning how to make our intentions work for us, as well as our world.
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