I’ve been thinking a lot about intentional living lately. I know this isn’t a new concept and, in fact, has been quite a trendy topic in recent years, but it has really started to settle into my brain recently.
Far more intelligent people than I have written volumes on how to live an intentional life, but I decided that before I try on someone else’s idea of what it looks like, I wanted to figure out what it means to me.
And for me, it’s really quite simple. Living an intentional life for me means making choices, often small ones, that align with my values and keep me moving toward the best version of myself.
Again, this isn’t groundbreaking stuff. Except that for me it is.
I have always had a natural tendency to think that life is something that just happened to me. I lived reactively, always responding to what took place instead of authoring it. Certainly there have been things in my life around which I had no control, but there have been far more things around which I did have control and chose poorly.
I’m an impulsive person by nature. I don’t see this as an entirely negative thing, just a true one. It brings with it passion, spontaneity, and lots of excitement. It also means that I sometimes do what I feel like doing rather than what I should do, and that’s where things get tricky.
Letting my emotions be a compass for my decisions has gotten me into a lot of sticky situations over the years.
This idea of living intentionally and moving toward the best version of myself is appealing because it puts me in control and allows me the opportunity to ask myself what the result of my actions will be. It also carries with it the reality that I can never be who I’m not.
I’m not trying to make myself more like anyone else.
I’m not trying to change the essence of who I am.
I’m not trying to morph into a person who embodies the best qualities of everyone I know and is free of imperfections.
I’m simply acknowledging and accepting the person that I am, flaws and all, and making choices day by day that align with my values.
We love fun facts in our house…the little pieces of trivia that make life more interesting.
The other day Noah said, “Fun fact: Did you know that you see the best version of yourself when you look in the mirror?”
(Side note: This explains why every time I look at a picture of myself I say, “Is that what I really look like??”)
I think this is true with life as well. I think we know who we are in our hearts and we know what we value and what we believe to be true and real and important. We know the best version of ourselves.
But sometimes our actions don’t reflect that.
When I lose my temper.
When I tear down others instead of building them up.
When I use sarcasm as a way to communicate.
When I put my needs above the needs of my family.
These (and a million other) things don’t show people the best version of myself that I know I could be. If I saw myself from the outside, would I say “Is that what I really look like to others?”
The idea of living intentionally brings me peace because it gives me the chance to show others who I truly am.
It permits me to let go of the strongholds that keep me stuck, the things that I do more out of habit than out of any purpose. Things that no longer serve me.
It allows me to be fully myself and no one else. I get to make the rules for who I am and who I want to be. I get to decide what I’d like my life to look like. I get to make the choices that keep me on the path to that destination and live in alignment with I believe to be true and real and important. It also allows me to be at peace right where I am while making choices that I know will bring long term growth and joy.
It frees me from the idea that I have to prove myself to anyone.
And that’s life altering stuff right there.
Untangled 