Intention

Hello lovelies,

Welcome back :) I'm so glad you're here!  I know there was a bit of a delay in getting this next post out, but, that's life; things come up, chaos erupts, and next thing you know, it's been days since your first post.  So, my apologies for the oh-so-overdue post, but here goes!

Since I last wrote in and talked to all of you, I'd been frustrated with my job, feeling like maybe it wasn't really for me, maybe I didn't belong in the industry I've chosen to get back into, and other things.  I was very much on the entrepreneurship train!  And I still am on that train, absolutely, however, I've also had some other things hop on board with me, that have me thinking about my future, and what that may in fact look like.  So, getting to the title of this post, intention, I set an intention through a Facebook group of women that are all about making your dreams happen and making your life the success story you want it to be.  I wrote in on the day we were talking about manifesting our dreams, and I happened to write that "I want" to get a job that makes me happy and that leaves time for me to spend with my fur child, because, whether anyone understands it or not, I feel like Daisy is my child, and I want to spend as much time with her as possible.

I read a quote a long time ago that said "dogs have such short lives, and they spend most of it waiting for us to get home".  That really hit home for me.  I love Daisy, and she is my child, and I know that I didn't do amazing things with her when she was a pup, but I'd like to think I'm helping make up for that now.  So, when I read that, it really struck a nerve, but then came the day that really broke my heart.  I read another quote.  If you haven't already guessed by now, quotes are HUGE for me; prepare yourself to get an influx of inspiration and thought provoking quotations in your memory banks.  This other quote was something along the lines of how we, as humans, have work, have friends, have TV, have all kinds of things that make up our lives, but for our dogs, we are their life.  They don't have a job to go to, they don't get to see their friends, unless we humans take them out, they don't have TV to entertain themselves, they have fetch and other interactive games that involve US, their humans.  So when I stopped and thought about life from my dogs perspective, I realized that I was failing as a mom.  I wasn't giving her the love and attention and freedom that she deserved.  In came the change.  I was fortunate enough to be working part time at this point, when I read these quotes, and I said to myself, no more.  I was no longer going to be one of those people that had a dog as a pet, not a dog as a family member.  I started taking her out on even longer walks, I started taking her anywhere I could when I drove around.  If I went to get gas, she came too.  If I went to the pet store to buy her food, she went too.  If I went to the beach, she went too.  Anywhere I went that she could go, she came.  I started thinking about her more as my child, and less as my pet, and that was really when things started changing.

I didn't realize it until I got a job after moving that involved more hours and a longer commute, so that time with my Daisy was suddenly almost non-existent, that I wanted that time with my Diddle.  She is my child.  People work part time hours when they have little kids; they want to be home with their kids or be there for sports events or other things.  I wanted to be there for Daisy.  I wanted to be there to take her for walks, to take her to explore these new places, to take her to really experience life, like she deserves.  I know that I'm not doing a great job, she doesn't go kayaking or surfing or other crazy stuff that people do with their dogs, but I'm doing the best that I can where I am.  Maybe in another few years we'll be kayaking with her or doing stand up paddle boarding with her, who knows!  But for now, I felt like I was abandoning her, and failing her as a mom.  So, I kept applying for jobs with fewer hours so that I could have more time with her.

I realized that I'd rather cut back on my living expenses(have a cheaper house, not go out to eat as much, not buy designer purses, etc) and have time for the important stuff, and still be able to make ends meet working part time, than have all of those extra perks and less time with Daisy.  Like I said, I didn't realize it at the time, but things started changing when I started treating Daisy like a child, instead of like a dog.  My entire perspective about work, and what it meant to work as an adult, shifted.  I realized I didn't have to work 40 hour weeks.  Just because that's what most people do, doesn't mean that's what I have to do.  Once I realized that, I felt insanely liberated.  When I realized that I could just shift my life goals to, instead of buying a bigger house or nicer things, to working as few hours as possible while still being able to make ends meet, I was ready to do that.  I don't mind working, and I'd even gladly work from home, but the long hours at work, plus a commute, oh no, that was not going to fly.

I've always considered myself an odd duck, and once I realized that I was going against the grain of society in saying, I want to work as few hours as possible, so that I have maximum time with Daisy, while still being able to not be insanely bored or broke, and therefore homeless, I felt like I was excited for my future again.  My future was no longer, "what career am I going to have that will fill up my days", it became, "what job can I do part time that will pay enough".  That, ladies and gentlemen, was like jumping in a pool on a hot summer day; suddenly life was open and exciting again.  I felt like a little kid, when you know the world is your oyster, but you don't REALLY know what that means...you know the feeling!  Yeah, I felt like that again.  I could do whatever I wanted, because it wasn't going to necessarily be a career!  How many part time workers do you know that have a career in what they're doing part time?  Probably not many.  Part time work isn't your career, it's part time, it can't be.  So that stress was instantly gone.

So, again, back to the title, sorry, I got a little side tracked there :) (it happens hehe).  I posted that "manifestation" on Facebook after having gone to an interview for a more part time position at a different company before work(and mind you, no commute time with that job either), and then going to training for a solid 8 hour day, plus a 30 minute commute each way, yayyyyy....totally part time hours...not!  As I was going to lunch, I checked my phone and saw that I had a comment back from one of the leaders of the group, and she said that instead of saying "I want", I should say, "I am"(i.e.: I AM going to get a job I want that allows me to spend more time with Daisy).  So I mentally amended my manifestation and made a mental note that I trusted the universe would do whatever was right for me.  I went through the rest of my day and the next day not really thinking about my manifestation, I was trusting in the universe.  Then, on the day after my interview, as I am on my way home from training, again, I get a phone call from the more part time company offering me the job.  I was BEYOND excited!  I was going to take a slight dip in pay, but I was suddenly going to have an extra 15-20 hours a week with my baby!  I was absolutely, hands down, ecstatic!  I immediately wrote back to the group leader on Facebook and told her what had happened, and she wasn't surprised in the least.  And that was when I knew, these ladies were the real deal.  They are solidly in my favorites group on Facebook, that I want to see what they have to say.  I already knew that setting intentions worked, I'd been told that by other people in the past.  I had done it before, where I changed my thoughts from what was going wrong in life, to what I "knew" was going to happen, and sure enough, each time, when I sent my positive thoughts to what I wanted to happen, it happened.  I am a firm believer in intention setting now, and I strongly urge you to try it!  I know that it sounds cheesy and new-agey, but give it a go, what do you have to lose!?

Honestly, intention setting is just like riding a horse, hopefully at least some of you will understand this haha.  When you ride a horse, they tell you to look where you want the horse to go, because most new riders look at the horse, not at the trail or wherever they're riding, so your horse will then just wander.  However, the minute you look up, and you look where you want your horse to go, the horse goes there!  The first time I was on a horse, I was absolutely looking down at the horse, I mean, come on, it's a horse, they're adorable!  So my horse kept wandering wherever, and I was having to constantly redirect her.  Once the instructor told me to look where I wanted the horse to go, I did, and BAM, the horse walked straight that direction, no problems, no more directing necessary.  I was absolutely shocked!  And intention setting is the same way!  If you don't have any intentions set, you're just going through life, accepting whatever comes your way; but, if you set intentions, you are telling life where you're going, not the other way around.

So, I challenge you, my lovely reader, tomorrow morning, set the intention that "today is going to be a good day", as soon as you get up.  Don't wait around and let the day decide for you whether it's a good day or not, you TELL that day that it's going to be a good one.  See if it makes a difference or not.  I bet it will!  And then, or if you already do that, set bigger intentions!  Come on!  Let's go big or go home!  Set some intentions and let the universe work WITH you to make them happen!

If you want a great book to read about this whole intention setting business, I HIGHLY recommend The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, it's an amazing read, well worth your time, and it's all about how this young boy spends his life wanting more than what he has, but being afraid he can't get it, suffering setbacks, and then realizing once he sets his intention, the universe conspires on his behalf to make it happen.  There's a fun little extra bit about life and how things circle around that you'll probably enjoy too.

All in all, I mean it guys, set intentions, be bold, be brave, tell the universe, you ARE going to have the life you want!  What do you have to lose?  Let's give it a go!  From one exceptionally grateful mom(and a very grateful pup as well) to you, I promise, you won't be disappointed :)

Xoxo

Kona