I’ve always been big on setting intentions and the power that intention can wield. But just recently I had an eye-opening experience that reinforced for me how life-changing an intention can be.
I first became familiar with the idea of intention by reading The Power of Intention by the late Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. In the book he explains how our intention sets the stage for what happens to us. It’s different from setting goals, in which we focus on how we’re going to make something happen. When we set an intention for manifestation, we invite the Universe to co-create with us.
Though I knew this in my head, a recent experience showed me that the lesson has finally been taken to heart. When I was sick and recovering from cancer treatment, I got to see who my real friends are. I always say you never know someone until you’ve known them through all seasons. During that rainy season in my life, a couple of ‘friends’ disappeared. But I also got to see first-hand who I could depend on in all situations.
One of my long-time friends — we had been friends since we were children — really came through for me and she was literally a rock when I felt like I was drowning. Though we live several states away from each other (she lives in Florida and I live in Maryland), I remember when I couldn’t do anything but lay in bed and she ordered two sets of mystery books (my favorites) — one for me and one for her. She said we’d read them together and talk about them. Our two-person book club kept my mind clear and helped me to get through some tough days.
She also flew across the country several times to see me when I was sick. She was even willing to travel during the height of the pandemic because she wanted to show me support.
Setting an intention
So where does the intention fit in? Once I started to recover I began looking back on the experience and acknowledging all of the lessons. One lesson: I wanted to nurture the relationships that meant the most to me. So I set an intention for manifestation that I would not let six months go by without seeing this particular friend. Either we’d meet somewhere for a girls trip or I’d visit her or she could visit me, but I was going to make sure that I saw her every six months.
In July, we met in Philadelphia since she was in Pennsylvania visiting family and I could easily take the train to Philly. We played tourist and had a good time. Since I had set the intention to not let six months go by without seeing her, that meant I had to make plans for us go get together by the end of January.
I decided I would fly down to Florida. I could visit her while getting away from the cold in the Mid-Atlantic. But as we got closer to January, I still hadn’t purchased my ticket.
An intention that was almost derailed
In recent months I decided I wanted a kitten. I had a cat before who passed away a couple of years ago and I feel like now I’m ready to get another fur baby. I decided to get my kitten through a rescue organization and I’ll be picking him up this weekend. I’ve been thinking about my plans to go to Florida but, again, haven’t purchased my ticket because I started wondering whether I should leave my kitten so soon after getting him settled in at home. He’ll be experiencing a lot of change when he gets here and I don’t want to disrupt his life anymore.
The more I’ve thought about it the more I settled on the idea that I just wasn’t going to be able to go to Florida right now because of the kitten. But I hadn’t told my friend that yet. Today she called me and asked if I had purchased my ticket. I said ‘no,’ and explained why, and then she said ‘oh good.’ She then proceeded to tell me that her husband would be attending a conference in DC later this month so she would come up with him and stay with me and we would hang out all weekend.
It wasn’t until later that I realized that my intention had created a win-win solution. Though I had made the decision not to go, the Universe created circumstances that would honor my intention anyway. She is making the trip so even though I am choosing to stay home with my kitten, six months will have not gone by from when I last saw my friend.
So back to the original question raised by this blog post: How to set an intention for manifestation. I think my intention was fulfilled because I truly believed I had the power to make it happen and it was important to me to nurture that relationship. Even though I chose not to travel at this time, I never thought spending time with this friend was an unobtainable goal. I also was able to relax about it and allow circumstances to unfold. When we set an intention and truly believe in it without having to control it, the Universe will oblige. We don’t have to do all of the work to make it happen.
