Trying too hard to make things happen? It’s time to soul surf.

2 MINUTE READ

These days it can be awfully easy to get caught up in the headlines or bogged down by the intensity with which life is moving. When my brain needs a rest, I let my cats take the lead. Gingerberry and Jiji remind me not to take life too seriously and by life I mean — that which I have no control over. Instead, seeing Gingerberry curl up on her favorite cushion after lunch reminds me to focus on what’s really important to me and set intentions accordingly. For Gingerberry and Jiji intentions are clear — eating and sleeping. Beauty in simplicity. Lightness in being.

It’s dark because you are trying too hard. 
Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly.
Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply.
Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.   

— Aldous Huxley

Intentions focus our thoughts like stepping stones that shape our reality. Intentions, different from goals, is about focusing on the present. Setting goals is about planning for the future. The art is in the subtle movement between holding fast to the notion of the goal while creating routine and habit around the intention. In this way, focus fluctuates between the detail found in the intention and the goal of the big picture, molding our reality to match our desires and our purpose.

The question often comes down to how to do things lightly.

Intentions made from the head put reason before feeling – you know, the old “this is what’s best for you,” line of reasoning that often results in overthinking, which leads to trying to force things happen, which requires lots of personal energy (the ego’s investment) and also takes an extraordinary amount of will power.

It is the intentions made from the heart that align with the soul’s purpose. Heartfelt intentions result in synchronicity and a sense of effortlessness. They require faith in a wholeness that trusts that we are all connected and when we acknowledge this connection we are automatically living our higher purpose, our soul’s purpose.

Carolyn Myss says that the solar plexus in the body is the place where personal will meets divine will. This is the place in our body from which we expand and contract the breath in the diaphragm. When we can trust our connection between personal will and divine will, the solar plexus and diaphragm combine with the breath creating a bridge that connects our head to our heart. The soul, then, lightly surfs on the waves of our deepest most heartfelt intentions.

It is a process and we’re all in this together.  ♥ Jane