Intention, Intuition, and Mirrors

Discover the Life Meant for You

Contributed by: Candace Partridge

Many years ago, I became aware of some of the old beliefs I had been trusting in since childhood that were no longer working for me but I didn’t know I had the power or ability to replace them with ones that better suited me today. I wanted to do something different and believed I could try but didn’t know where to start. I began setting intentions. It seemed a safe and easy first step and it changed my life. Every few weeks I would work on a new intention. Slowly I began to recognize a faint inner voice I never knew existed. This whisper of intuition, set me on a course to change deep, destructive patterns that entered my life as a child and were now crushing me and my family.

Each time I set a new intention, I wrote it down on small pieces of paper, and placed them everywhere around I looked – in my car, on my phone, the refrigerator, bathroom mirror and computer. Flooding my consciousness, these notes screamed at me hourly to change a specific old destructive pattern. Brick by brick I tore down old and constraining barriers.

Thinking with positive and proactive intention can help us create constructive change in our lives. When we set intentions, we propel a creative process into motion opening us to the knowledge and understanding necessary to find more fulfilling relationships, help manage our work-life balance, and find more meaning in our lives. We begin to remove the layers of limiting ego dependency. We uncover more of our true nature when we stop, be still and witness.

At first, we hear only a faint whisper, an intuition we might have. This quiet voice slowly becomes more connected to us the more we listen in the same way using our muscles more often strengthens them. When we act on those intentions they empower us to alter unfulfilling and unwanted behavioral patterns that might have been limiting. We become more willing to see and recognize the many different parts of ourselves – both supportive and destructive – and we can change.

Goals are not intentions. Goals focus on short term gains based on what we know we are capable of. Intentions are more like faith we trust in. They’re based on a primal and universal force. It’s our connecting link to something bigger than ourselves, a grand eternal unity. Like the captain of a ship, intention provides the navigational route and compass that guides us on our journey and helps us return home to our authentic self. Intuition determines the destination. Intuition is the ‘instinctive sense’ or ‘knowing’ there is a better way forward.

When intention and intuition work in concert, we supercharge our growth and healing and find quick results and resolution. But intuition requires that we be still and listen. Intentions require discipline, courage and compassion. If we are willing to surrender to something new, schedule the time to listen, and can muster the courage and discipline, then we will make significant leaps in consciousness and self-awareness.

Sometimes our destructive patterns are deeply entrenched with our identity making it difficult for us to clearly see the problem. We recognize things in our life aren’t working the way we would like but may be unsure what the root cause of the difficulty is. Fortunately, life has a solution to help. It offers us a simple tool to quickly identify our behavior patterns and empower us to take greater control and responsibility in our lives: life acts as a mirror.

People and experiences in our daily life act as mirrors for different aspects of ourselves. We learn more of who we are by observing what type of person or experience affects us most – what makes us resentful, fearful, jealous or angry. A recurring event or intense emotion from a specific experience is called a trigger, and it suggests we may be attached to a certain response or outcome. By asking, ‘what kind of experience or person triggers me?’, rather than blaming others for our beliefs or circumstances we tap into our free will and take responsibility for our own lives.

For example, let’s use the common theme of ‘victim’ and ‘victimizer’. When we act as witnesses of our thoughts, feelings and behaviors and question, ‘why do I keep being a victim to bullying behavior’, we are being self-responsible. We ease up on blaming others for a moment, and use the experience as a mirror for seeing an unknown pattern that may be keeping us stuck in a harmful cycle. For instance, for me, bullies seem to take away my power and freedom. They suffocate my voice and make me feel inferior. From a mirror perspective, the bully reflects the part in me that is fearful to speak up and wants to hide; I might prefer to let others take charge. Taking this example further, until we stand up, express ourselves, and take the risk of being criticized then we likely will continue to draw bullies and bullying behavior in our life.

In summary, when we stop and listen to our intuition we see ourselves more clearly. With intention, we can successfully change unwanted behavioral patterns into supportive ones. With the concept of reflections or using ‘life as a mirror’, we see clearly the deepest aspects of our persona that want to be acknowledged, honored and respected.

 

ABOUT CANDACE

Candace had a profound mystical revelation in 1996 leading her to the establish Lightspirit Institute, a school focusing on a more complete approach to the understanding, development and experience of the totality of our human nature. The school integrates the physical, emotional, mental as well as spiritual energies of our being to access more broadened states of consciousness for transformation. She is a Transpersonal Psychologist, philosopher, philanthropist, urban wife and mother.

Also in Mindfulness