Good Intentions Are Paving Stones

Good intentions. Everyone's got them. What do we do with them? My father used to say "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." He probably heard or read that statement from somewhere/some famous person, but I always attribute the phrase to my dad. I heard him say it a LOT (usually after I had failed to clean my room, wash the dishes, sweep the floor, etc.--what can I say? I am a sloth).

And let me tell you, being grounded for intending to do something and then not accomplishing it is a little like being in the pits of hell.

But being a kid who fails to follow through on a promised chore who is grounded is not the same as being an adult who intends to become, to do, to be ANYTHING and then the adult fails to follow through on her intent. The resulting hell is not filled with brimstone and fire and a man wearing a bizarre red cape who pokes you with a pitchfork.

The hell is one's own sense of worth going down the toilet. Flushed. Gone. The man with the pitchfork is really one's conscious saying "you're a failure and a loser." Ouch. Pretty big poke in the head, right?

And here's what else that dude in the cape who lives in your head says (I don't care what religion or not a person is--we all have egos and a conscious capable of creating this negativity), "You may as well not bother to intend to do anything again cause you will not succeed. Just quit before you start." Bigger blow to the psyche, right?

What is the solution? Do not INTEND to anything unless you plan to carry through your intention. You're writing a book? You want to write a book? You intend to write a book? Then write the darned book. Don't tell yourself you'll fail before your start writing or while you're writing. Regardless of your religion or lack of one, I think that's the dang man with the pitch fork talking. Really. It is. If you fail to become who you were intended to be, then that dude in the cape wins.

Now in this case, I use writing the darned book because that's what I'm geared up to do. That's my desire and my intent. I am fulfilled by the action of carrying through on my intention. The end result is a happy and satisfied ME. The rest is gravy, icing, cherries, you name it. But I have the substance. I have the full satisfaction one feels after eating a super wonderful meal that's been plated up for me to enjoy.

As long as I live the life intended for me, carry through on using my gifts and talents to the best of my ability, then I am in a place called heaven. And finding heaven on earth is a great discovery.

What's your good intention?