"The Power of Intention" Exercise

Last night’s dinner was one of the better ones even though it was extremely basic. Spaghetti with meat sauce was served along with lima beans, salad, and green beans. Of course, I received my spaghetti without any sauce, but I did put some crushed red pepper on top of it. After dinner, I was fortunate enough to receive the last three days’ newspapers. For the first time in a very long time, I read a newspaper the same day it was published. Since the member of the table paroled last week, his local newspaper subscription still lives on. Somehow, I ended up with these three newspapers and was very grateful. I spent the rest of the evening reading these newspapers at the table outside. There wasn’t very much conversation, but I did talk about my college alma mater since one of the other inmates attended there as well. I’m guessing the University of Maryland does not broadcast the fact that they have no former students in the California Department of Corrections. It is fairly amazing how both of us ended up at the same fire camp. It is hard to believe it has been 20 years since I was a student at the University of Maryland. Time does go by quickly.

The day and night were over as I went to sleep. The entire day was a lay-in, but I do prefer these lay-ins to working on the grade projects. I do very well keeping busy on these days, and before I know it the day is over. I had a good night’s sleep only awakening once for the night. The weather has gotten much hotter and much drier. I have noticed the drop in humidity as my nose has dried out considerably causing speckles of blood. This has happened over the course of the past 13 ½ years as I have lived in very dry areas. I can always tell when the humidity level drops because my nose tells me. It does make sense that my nose is the first thing alerted because it is the biggest part of my body!

I expected today to be more of the same (lay-in) as yesterday, but I still had to follow my morning routine. I got up at the usual time and started my burpee/pushup routine. I did feel good, but I could feel the heat of the day already starting. Normally, early morning is very cool, but today it was warmer. I don’t know if that had anything to with my slower-than-normal time or the fact that I lose count every now and again. When I lose count, I have a tendency to do more than is required. The gnats were out in force this morning, which is usually not the norm, and a few of them flew right into my mouth. I guess this is a good way to get more protein in my diet!

The exercise routine was over, and with the showers fixed, I was able to take a shower before breakfast. This does make a world of difference because yesterday I felt very dirty and unseemly without taking a shower. This morning I felt so much better washing up thoroughly. I do have a new admiration for taking a shower. The shower was over, and it was on to breakfast. No one knew whether or not we would be laid-in, so it was business as usual. The breakfast of pancakes and oatmeal was uneventful. The dining hall looked deserted since only half the camp population was in there this morning. The four other crews are still out on the fires. As breakfast concluded, it was back to my room to put on my boots. I did ask whether it was necessary to “boot up”, but no one still seemed to know anything. I was booted up and went outside to listen for the work call. The work call announcement for my crew never arrived since we still didn’t have a fire captain. The other remaining crew had its regular captain, but we still were orphaned. So for the second day in a row, which makes a five-day weekend since tomorrow is an official holiday (Fourth of July), and we will be off work yet again. It seems my crew has been laid-in more than any other crew. I think it has to do with our captain’s schedule and the fact that he has been on vacation for the past two weeks. I did wonder how the captains can take vacation during fire season. I do remember in the gaming industry we had blackout periods for vacations, which were most major holidays and the week between Christmas and New Years Day. Fire season runs from May through November, so that would be a large blackout period. I guess it wouldn’t make any difference if a captain took vacation as long as there were other captains to cover. My crew seemed to get the short end of the stick these past two weeks since no captain has covered us. Anyhow, this is alright by me because this morning I read more of “The Power of INTENTION”.

I am fascinated by this book because it makes so much sense. I am about halfway through it and don’t know where to start making comments because every page has been great. I would like to highlight some passages because they hit me squarely in the head. This is a spiritual book in every way, shape, and form. The author, Dr. Wayne Dyer, makes no mention of religion, which I think is great. He does refer to God all throughout the book, but God is neither a he nor a she. God is the creator, and human beings are spiritual beings having a human experience. There is no beginning or end to life. There is no need to fear death because there is no end.

The book is broken down into three parts. The first part is the essentials of intention where the author details intention in depth. Intention is a force that exists in the universe as an invisible field of energy. This statement was the genesis of the book. The key is to let go and trust the power of intention. Letting go means getting oneself out of the way, and ego must be forsaken. Ego is a detriment to intention. Ego cannot exist with intention. Intention is everywhere and is part of everyone. There are four steps to intention; discipline, wisdom, love, and surrender. These steps are completed in order, and by the time the fourth stage (surrender) is reached, all the pieces have come together. In surrender, you light up and can consult with your infinite soul.

The second part is called “Putting Intention to Work.” This offers specific information and a step-by-step guide to applying these principles in everyday life. One of these principles is to respect myself at all times. Mark Twain said, “A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.” This is critical because, if I don’t believe I am worthy of fulfilling my intentions for health, wealth, or creating relationships, then obstacles will appear that will inhibit the flow of creative energy into my daily life. The key is to maintain the highest level of energy - the higher the level, the closer to spiritual energy. Obstacles only block these higher levels of energy. Remove all obstacles and surrender to intention. In essence, if I portray negative feelings, negative feelings are returned to me. On the flip side, if I portray positive emotions, then positive emotions are returned to me. I have committed to being positive all through my recovery, but I cannot pick and choose. I must remain positive at all times, and positive things will surround me at all times. This is not a half-way attempt. This is 100% being.

One passage in the book is titled “What You Think of Yourself is What You Think of the World.” The author goes on to state in this section, “If your thoughts reflect a pessimistic view of the world, then that’s exactly how you feel about yourself.” This is very powerful, and for myself, I believe I am more of an optimist than a pessimist; however, the more optimism displayed, the better I feel about myself. I realize I am making this a bit simple, but the key is to trust, believe, and surrender to intention. Trusting and believing mean being positive and displaying positive attitudes at all times. “If I think I am defeated, I am.” I don’t know who said that, but it is appropriate. So many times I have questions and concerns that inhibit me from trusting intention. I have to drop these questions and concerns in order to fully feel the benefits of intention.

Yet another passage, “The self in self-respect,” states, “Perhaps the greatest mistake we make, which causes a loss of self-respect, is making the opinions of others more important than our own opinion of ourselves.” He goes on to say, “If you fail to respect yourself, you’re showing contempt for the process of creation!” Let’s face it – in this world, it is so easy to cast opinions on others. This is wrong, and when those opinions are cast, many of us take them to heart which is equally as wrong. Self-respect is just that – to respect yourself. As long as I respect myself, it does not matter what others say about me. This has nothing to do with ego and has everything to do with self-respect. I must practice the seven faces of intention, which are; creativity (I have a long way to go with this one), kindness, love, beauty, expansion, unlimited abundance, and receptivity. As long as I practice these, it does not matter what others say. Also, I cannot cast any opinions on others. I must look past the judgments of others’ appearances, failures, successes, status in society, wealth or lack of it, and extend appreciation love to the source (God) from which they came. By extending love and respect to everyone, I can turn low energy into high energy because I am returning it to the source rather than away.

Hopefully, some of this is making sense because it does have me excited. There are so many correlations to the GA program I am astounded. The 12 steps of recovery tell about a higher power, powerlessness, surrender, and not taking inventory of others only oneself, among many other wonderful things. The Power of Intention encapsulates all these principles. The 12th step in the GA recovery program states, “Having made an effort to practice these principles in all our affairs, we tried to carry this message to other compulsive gamblers.” Essentially, this means to give back to others. In the Power of Intention, “The more you give of yourself, no matter how little, the more you open the door for life to pour in.” I am astounded at the similarities. I will close this discussion on the Power of Intention with a poem:

“The best thing to give your enemy is forgiveness;
to an opponent, tolerance;
to a friend, your heart;
to your child, a good example;
to your father, deference;
to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you;
to yourself, respect;
to all men (and women), charity.”

“Make giving a way of life. It is, after all, what source and nature do eternally. I’ve heard it said about nature that trees bend low with ripened fruit; clouds hand down with gentle rain; noble men bow graciously. This is the way of generous things.”

I have always thought of myself as a kind, caring, loving, generous person; however, after reading half of The Power of Intention, I realized I have to fully commit to these attributes. I cannot pick and choose as I see fit. I have no right to put anyone down because this is putting myself down. I sometimes have a tendency to get caught up in my surroundings. I must stop this and trust intention. I can see this is a key to a much better way of life. I must be fully cognizant of my actions, and as long as these actions are consistent with GA and Intention, my life will move to a much higher level.

Yes, most of my day was absorbed into this book. I did take 90 minutes out to work out some more. The Power of Intention does also focus in on how to treat the body. I haven’t done a double-session workout since my arrival here some six weeks ago. I had time this morning for a 90-minute session on the Harvard Wall. I am glad I did the exercise in the middle of the running because the afternoon temperature was due to climb to 110 degrees. I did get a good sweat in the 85-degree temperature, especially wearing sweatpants (my two pairs of shorts were in the wash). It was a good break from the running, and after I was finished, it was time for shower number two. The rest of the day was spent writing and reading. I really shouldn’t call it reading because it is more of a study as opposed to a read.