The Big Picture

In "Mastering the Toltec Way" Susan Greg writes :

"Intent is the third Toltec mastery. It is very powerful and always operating in your world. Intent is like the wind; you can see its effect-- as when the wind moves a sailboat-but you can't see it directly. Although it is always working, you must set your intent clearly in order to use it. The Grandmother said, 'Let the rocks speak to you; they will guide your feet and make your passage easy.'

"If you look at your life, you can see your intent. lf you are unhappy, your intent has been to create unhappiness. lf you have a loving relationship, your intent was to have a loving relationship. To see your intent simply look at the results you have achieved in your life.

"You can harness intent as you can harness the wind. I've been learning how to sail a small catamaran, which has been a great lesson on intent. Small adjustments make a big difference. I can set my intent to go toward a certain spot, but I need to pay attention and adjust the rudder and the sail along the way or I won't get there.

"Set your intent to achieve personal freedom. You may discover that everything but freedom will come roaring to the surface. Welcome the arrival of each new belief, make an adjustment or two, and set your intent again. See what comes up, address it, and keep repeating the process until you get to where you want to go.

"Be gentle with yourself in the process Be grateful for the limitations your intent shows you rather than judging yourself for having them."

The hard part is of course when what you don't want "comes up" as she puts it; " ... everything but ..... will come roaring to the surface. Welcome the arrival of each new belief, make an adjustment or two, and set your intent again. See what comes up, address it, and keep repeating the process until you get to ..."

Often I'm sidetracked by what comes up, become involved in it, and hijacked. Say you have a difficult moment with a loved one, you immediately become sucked into and focused on the subject of the difficulty-you have an argument, become defensive, or feel threatened, hit back. Is your intent to have stress and arguing? Of course not, but one forgets it in that moment.

It's almost like your intent has changed from building a loving relationship to winning the argument-How strange! What does winning an argument achieve? Even if you win, you still feel bad. It does not serve the purpose of building a loving relationship. Sometimes we have to protect our personal boundaries, even where a loved one is involved. But is it not better to protect our boundaries in a civil and loving way? How does one do that? It seems we are often caught up in the habit of protecting boundaries by showing anger and aggression. We believe the only way to clarify our boundaries is by fighting?

What if, in that angry moment, I can step back and remind myself of my intent? That's something I learned from Brenda-when she's confronted with a difficult situation, she "steps back," takes a higher view, sees the situation from her higher self. The fearful "inner child" wants to hit out or run away in that moment-The "higher self" can take control of the situation and come back to the intent of building a loving relationship. Fear and insecurity blows us off course. I guess that's why one's life is broken up into days--So we have a fresh start each day, to provide a fresh opportunity to step back and see the big picture, to say thanks for our blessings and to remind us of our intent.