A Journey of Intent

“That could have gone better!”  Have you ever uttered those words out loud or to yourself?  I did recently when something didn’t go as expected. Disappointment and self-doubt crept in, and I was beating myself up.

Our own self-talk can be the worst.  I could have done better and was irritated. I was getting sucked into the vicious, sinking, circle-the-drain repetitive thought loop I call the negative vortex.  I’m very familiar with the vortex. I was getting dragged in and it needed to stop.

To end the vortex, something or someone is needed to pull you out.  Desperately wanting to break the negative vibe going on, I started singing to the positive music I had on in the car.  Purposefully, intently, I sang out something positive to disrupt the vortex.  And it worked.

The song was Day One by Matthew West which I have loved since I heard it in January.  It truly represents how I’ve tried to live my life the last number of years.  It brings me back to when I purposefully decided to be more positive. After a hard time in my life, intentionally being more positive has led to many memorable moments.  The line in the song “It’s day one of the rest of my life, it’s day one of the best of my life” truly is how I started over 8 years ago.

While singing at the top of my lungs, it struck me that over half my life is over.  Now there’s a positive thought.  But it lent perspective to how I don’t want to spend the rest of this life being sucked down the rabbit hole of negativity.  I want to live each day as the gift it is. I want to encourage myself and all of you to be well, no matter the circumstance.Lenten Wellness Journey

My friends, this is the idea behind our Lenten Wellness Journey.  As mentioned in Sunday’s post, Jesus wants us to have a life that is full and abundant.  We will make mistakes, we are sinful.  But when things don’t go as planned, let’s evaluate, learn, grow and hope to do better the next time. And stop the negative self-talk.

I believe God has unique plans for all of us. We only discover what those plans are by keeping our eyes on Him and following His example.

As on our previous Wellness Journeys, I am picking a word to help guide me each day.  This time around my word is intent.  Intent will be on my mind as I make choices about food, exercise, thoughts and how I spend my time.  Being intentional creates memories as described in my MemoryMinders blog post. Focusing on the intent behind the choices will hopefully lead to positive steps towards my wellness in soul, mind and body.

As we journey, I’ll share music to encourage, Bible passages to enlighten, ideas to nourish and strategies to inspire our wellness.  I’m hoping you’ll chime in with comments or thoughts here, on social media, by email or in person. I’ll be talking a lot about wellness choices in soul, mind and body over the next six weeks. Let’s begin our journey to wellness and the life we are meant to live…

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