ben wakeman : : Journal

Good Intentions

March 1, 2006

It takes so much more than good intentions... or does it? This morning Hans and I were doing our usual 6:30 run where we talk about things that we usually talk about: our responsibilites, our latest philosophy on how to live a better life, etc. We often talk about the power of thought, of intention. Can you really make something into a reality simply by thinking it --- aligning yourself with the the forces of the universe and riding the wave to it's successful conclusion? The short answer is, no. It obviously takes more than just thought to make anything happen, but where else does a thing begin if not in a thought.

He asked me to think about the number of times a day I mentally tell myself that I can't do something, that I'm not good enough, that other people are succeeding because they are shallow or cut-throats versus how many times a day I think about what I want and what I can do to get there. When I really began to think about it, I started to realize that my positive reinforcing thoughts were simply like lone flairs set off in a dark pool of shark infested thoughts. Nothing more than a whispered wish or an empty prayer. The point is, with no real faith or a belief in yourself, how can you ever hope for the world to believe in you and give you what you want and deserve.

I know, I know... this is starting to sound like some kind of motivational speaking engagement or some kind of awful guest on Dr. Phil. I am a dyed-in-the-wool cynic and I totally hate this kind of infomercial babble, but I think there is something to the power of one person's thought. So I'm going to conduct a lab experiment on my cynical-self over the next few months. I'm going to write down my intentions every day (the same intentions) and start assembling actions to support them. My dreams of being in the circus are about to come true. I can feel it ;-)