Suck back and reload

Taking time to suck back, take stock, and reload enhances life’s experiences.

It’s so easy to get sucked into the vortex of life’s demands and lose the meaning behind all we do.

With so much to do, places to be, and things to accomplish, living in reaction to life is easy. We get thrown off course, and no longer feel at the helm of our own lives, and we don’t reap the rewards of our labours.

Remembering the reason behind all we do, or our ‘why,’ is important.

As we live in reaction to life, even potentially positive and meaningful activities start to feel like something we ‘have to do’ instead of something we ‘get to do.’

Living in reaction to life has a way of taking us off-course as we lose sight of our values and intentions, the very reasons behind all of we do. Life then begins to feel like a series of demands, and we can feel drained.

When this happens, life can lose meaning, as we become ‘human-doings’ instead of human-beings. We miss out on reaping the benefits of all our labors, we lose a sense of satisfaction, and our lives no longer reflect our highest values.

Pausing to ask ourselves if our life’s an expression of our highest values is a powerful practice and leads to greater life satisfaction. 

Time for reflection and contemplation is a precious commodity, but one worth investing in. It’s up to us to set the compass of our lives, to ensure the way we show up in the world reflects the qualities we hold dear.

It’s valuable to pause and ask yourself, “Who do I choose ‘to be’ in this thing called life? What are my highest values and intentions for living?” “How do I choose to show up for what’s required of me today?”

Many people I’ve worked with realize they’re no longer living an intentional life, making a conscious decision about how they are going to live life, but simply let life live them.

These are beautiful, busy people who experience moral distress as they realize they’ve been pulled off course. In losing sight of their highest values, they feel they’ve betrayed themselves. 

The way they are living life loses a sense of satisfaction and holds little meaning, as their lives no longer express their highest values. They say their actions feel empty, and they don’t reap the gifts life has to offer.

While becoming conscious of our intentions, and consciously choosing them might seem like a small thing, it’s being shown that the power of our intentions may be greater than we knew.

I’m intrigued by the work being done by Lynne McTaggart in her research into the power of intention. In her books, Intention Experiment and The Power of Eight, she reveals the power our intentions hold, particularly group intention. 

One simple, yet powerful practice I engage in each morning is pausing to remember my highest values and intentions for living, and inviting the quality of those intentions to infuse my life. I remember what’s important to me and make a conscious choice of how I’m going to show up.

Setting intentions is not something that’s externally focussed, it’s an internal process, with more of a feeling tone, based more on being than doing.  Intentions guide our behaviour and create outcomes that help us stay aligned with what’s most important to us. 

When we live life with intention, in alignment with those things we value most, we experience a greater sense of satisfaction and meaning.  We alone set the attitude with which we show up, and we reap the harvest of our intentions. 

What are your highest values and intentions for life? At the end of the day, what matters most to you?

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.