An Intention and Then What? and Update

by Judith Ashley

First published in October 2010, I still think the message is important. Read on to see my update. For visual interest I've added this interesting picture.

An Intention and Then What?

My Intention is to post once a week. If you look back at my last post, you'll see I'm within that time frame, however I started blogging on Thursday, then went to Monday, and then to Tuesday. Last week it was Thursday or Friday and today it is Wednesday.

Why is it so hard to follow through?
Why are things 'spaced' off? or forgotten?

If I had the answer I'd let you know, I'd write articles, I'd give speeches, I'd definitely share!

What I do know is that when we beat on ourselves when we slip up, when we don't meet our expectations, we only hurt ourselves and we only increase the probability that we'll mess up again. And more than likely sooner because Anxiety is not a friend of follow-through.

Life is about experiencing, growing, living, changing.
Life is about joy, happiness, grace, and gratitude.

If you are like me, you have problems being perfect. You may know on some level you are perfect just the way you are, but ...

Welcome to Life, Welcome to the Journey. Remember to enjoy the process, be kind to yourself. If you are, you're more likely to easily and effortlessly follow through on those Intentions.

Update: If, in the last 4+ years I'd learned "The Answer" to following through and never spacing off, etc. I think my bank account would be fuller. I would have shared through articles, speeches and blogging. The answer would be showing up in my books. As it is, what I have found is the following:

1. If I over-commit, I'm more likely to mess up in some way.

2. If I don't get the rest/sleep my body really needs (which is way more than we can operate from), I also don't do as well.

3. Forgiving myself, acknowledging I'm human reduces stress and anxiety and provides me with a stronger foundation to meet my own expectations.

4. Analyzing those expectations: Where do they come from? Are they helpful? What would happen if I dropped them?

I'll be back next Monday with a fresh new post on my time with my friend and my cousin. In the mean time, if you've something to share about staying on task or staying the course and what to do when you don't, please share. I may not respond right away, but I will!

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Womens' Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nourish the soul and celebrates the journey from relationship to romance.

Learn more at her website and her Windtree Press author page.

The Intention Experiment and An Update

First published in 2010, I still find the work of Lynne McTaggart inspirational so share it with you again. The invitation at the end still stands. 

If you have a desire to be part of something bigger than yourself, you may find Lynne McTaggart's work inspirational.

The Intention Experiment by Lynne McTaggart chronicles her work to scientifically track the effects of Intention. The sub-title is Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life And The World. Ms McTaggart is the force behind the world's largest 'mind-over-matter' experiment. In this book the author talks about and demonstrates that our thoughts have their own energy and they affect the world around us.

McTaggart is not the first person to suggest that every thought has its own vibrational energy. We all have felt 'vibes' (good and bad) when we've walked into a room or met someone. That vibrational energy can impact something, change something somewhere else in the world.

What Napoleon Hill was talking about is that when we work with two or more people, we can connect with a Universal Source that is comprised of vibrational energy and our Intention will manifests in the here and now.

Do you have a story to share? Let me know if you'd like to be a guest blogger and share your story with others.

Being fascinated by how energy works, I've included it in my series, The Sacred Women's Circle. In book one, working with energy or sensing energy is a new concept to the women. By the end, they will be "tuned in" to each other in a whole new way.

You can learn more about The Sacred Women's Circle series by checking out my website and my author page at Windtree Press.

Friends and Schedules

By Judith Ashley

This past week I spend several days with friends from Arizona and Texas along The Oregon Coast. We may talk for an hour every Tuesday but it had been 2012 since we last spent time together.

Not only did we talk and talk and talk, we had quiet time where we just watched the waves roll in. I saw whales spouting and a pair of pelicans as well as numerous seagulls. The majesty of the Pacific Ocean was inspiring. With great reluctance we left and are now each caught up in the day-to-day tasks of our every day life.

What I learned for myself as I drove away is

1. I've really been pushing myself to get my seven book series written and published. (#5 will be available in early June).

2. While I love my writing and still feel compelled to tell these stories, I need to find a different writing pace, one that does not compromise my health.

3. Spending time with friends away from the hustle and bustle of every day life is critical to my mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health.

4. Life, or at least my life, is about finding and maintaining balance and realizing that as time passes the balance between different elements in my life change which means I'm no longer in balance until I shift.

5. I don't spend as much time around water (ocean falls, rivers) as my spirit would like.



How does that fit with the month of May?

I'm visiting with my friend, Judith for just over two weeks. We've been friends for thirty-five years and met at a William Glasser Institute Conference in Houston, TX. I'm sure we'll take walks in a near-by park, spend time along the river as well as reminisce about our 35 years of adventures. (Remind me to tell you the cockroach story). We'll listen to cassette tapes of Croatian musicians and singers and remember our trip there during the Balkan War as well as another one shortly thereafter.

My cousin from California will be visiting with me over Memorial Day Weekend. I expect we'll go to Riverview Abbey and take flowers to our grandparents' graves, maybe drive up the Columbia River Gorge to see Multnomah Fall if not take the old highway and stop at several of the others. We'll also talk about a Rawson Family Reunion - the big one is celebrating 100 years in Rawsonville, Vermont in August! I suggested our branch (there are surviving children from 4 of the previous generation) celebrate here in Portland that same weekend. Only 5 cousins live any real distance away.

Before June 1 comes, I hope to spend at least a few hours with my VBF of over 40 years. Due to many different challenges, we've not seen each other face-to-face since January.

Friendships whether with family or others is an integral and important part of our lives. What are your plans to spend time with friends in May? What do you like to do with your VBF?

PS: I'm recycling posts from much earlier in this blogs history over the next two weeks and will share more thoughts about friends on the 25th. 

Judith is the author of The Sacred Womens Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nourish the soul and celebrates the journey from relationship to romance. You can learn more about Judith and her books at http://judithashleyromance.com