Monday, October 26, 2009

Peace, love and happiness: The power of setting intentions

Every morning, I write and recite my intention to feel peace, love and happiness in my heart. I also resolve to share that with everyone I come into contact with.

Doing this helps me get through stressful moments of my day. Here is a recent example:

The other night, I was making dinner. It was something new that required a bit more of my attention than a recipe I was familiar with. It also required two pots on the stove and something cooking in the oven at the same time – lots to keep track of.

My son, Tyler, was doing homework at the kitchen table, and my daughter, Alyssa, was sitting at the table cutting and coloring Halloween decorations. Both of them needed my attention. Tyler had questions about his homework, and Alyssa needed help with cutting.

The phone also rang – it was my husband, telling me he was on his way home (yeahhh!).

I felt a twinge of stress come over me a couple of times during the events of the evening as people and recipes called for my attention. But I remembered and recited my intention, which is to feel peace, love and happiness in my heart and to share it with everyone I come into contact with. Doing this caused me to take a deep breath, smile and give my family the help and attention they needed.

This made me feel happy, peaceful and loving – imagine that! I actually felt how I wanted to feel! Had I snapped at one of my children or my husband, I would have felt frustrated instead. And so would they. None of them would have understood why I snapped at them.

Without my effort at remembering to live by my intention, the whole evening could have taken a turn down Crabby Lane, but by remaining calm, peaceful and loving, we all ended up having a happy evening together. This scenario was a great reminder for me that the power of setting intentions for how I want to feel and act is very real and very effective!