How can I Stay on Course with my Intention?

by John Morton, D.S.S.

Question: How can I stay on course with my intention?

Answer: When a boat needs to sail to a certain place and the wind is blowing from that place, meaning the boat is sailing into the wind, sailors use a strategy called “tacking.” Tacking means that in order for the sails to catch the wind, sailors sail the boat in a zigzag course to the left and right of the destination. They stay focused on the direction of their destination, but they don’t sail straight towards it. By tacking, they keep making progress towards where they want to go, but in this zigzag manner.

When we’re on the water and there’s no wind, we call that the doldrums. When sailors come upon the doldrums, they utilize their oars and row for a while in order to move at all. When you don’t have much enthusiasm, you are in the doldrums --- a condition that lacks energy even when the destination is clearly known, mapped out and planned.

Over the years, ship captains and navigators have tracked in their ships’ logs the seas, winds, weather, seasons and so forth. Knowing the prevailing conditions can help sailors plan how to keep the ship moving --- when to tack, when to use the oars and row. Being aware of the prevailing conditions in your life can help you keep your intention so you move out of the doldrums and into more enthusiasm.

What are your conditions? Are you feeling scattered and confused or are you clear? Knowing what the conditions are, you can take advantage of your situation. So when you’re lacking enthusiasm, the conditions may require that you “get out and row.” And that can be as simple as saying, “I'm going to have a good day," and so you have a good day.

In The Blessings Already Are, I wrote that I’m not here to get into comparison or evaluation of the conditions. I’m here to love the conditions, pure and simple. The fun becomes, how do I love them? How do I respond with my love? Let me count the ways, and let me find a new and better way to love each condition.

Once upon a time in my life, I had something referred to as “weekends.” But since I’m working all the time, I don't necessarily have what some folks might call weekends. I don't have what I consider “time off.” So I’ve worked it out for myself so I also play all the time. And that attitude of “always” works for me.

You may think that’s just something I’m telling myself, that it’s not the reality. But it’s my reality and it works very well for me. It’s how I construct my life. So I'm working all the time and playing all the time. I don't have “weekends.” I don't need them. Every day is a day off, a vacation. I don’t look for relief with “Thank God it's Friday.” And I don’t feel down or in the doldrums when Monday comes. I love it all.

Look at what works for you in terms of your own temperament. Consider your choices carefully, rather than try to adopt what somebody else does that works for them. We’re all constructed differently. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Those differences are on purpose and by design. So naturally it would be good for us to pay attention to where we are weak and look for how to strengthen ourselves in those areas.

Whether we came into this life with a tendency for a weakness or we acquired it after our birth, we can still look to find ways to deal with our weaknesses so we can overcome or clear them. The way to clear our weaknesses is to love them. And with loving comes a responsibility to care about what we love. We're the ones involved in whatever is our weakness. We're watching over it. We're looking to see if we can make it better. So love it all because loving naturally makes things better. Loving can increase all people and things.

One of the best ways to know if something is loving is to look at the highest good of all concerned. If you say, “This person bothers me. This couldn't possibly be love,” maybe you need to be bothered in that way. Perhaps you're stuck in a position and holding to your weakness. Maybe you’re denying and betraying your strength and this person is providing you with an opportunity to gain that strength through your loving.

To me, this is one of the basic decisions to make in your life --- What is your life about? What is its purpose? What is your truth? What are you serving? Do you answer those questions positively or do you answer them negatively? I see it as a free choice and I want to answer those questions positively --- because that’s my clear preference.

You may say, “I don't know what the truth is. I just know what my preference is. I'd like my life to be happy, healthy, wealthy and thriving." Then my question is, “What are you doing towards that intention?”

Part of the answer would be to not let anything in the world take that intention away from you. To do that, you’ll find out what kind of strength, dedication and loyalty you have for your intentions. Every day is a new opportunity to find out where your dedication is. Where's your intention today? Where's your willingness today? Where’s your loving today?

One thing about negativity is that it has a finite existence. Negative passes. In the Spirit the negativity is gone, just like the past is gone. What if you remember it? Perhaps you keep looking at it. So let it go and forgive yourself for judging yourself or anyone else. Forgiveness is present all the time. When you forgive and let go of the judgment, the Soul can register into your consciousness more fully and completely. The Soul has this energy of the Light and the love. So you’re brighter and clearer.

You could have a revelation and realize, “I don't want to do this anymore. This is no longer my intention.” Sometimes that’s all it takes to shift yourself so you’re back on course. If you feel like you’re overextending or pushing yourself, you might ask yourself who you are doing it for and why you are doing it. Maybe you like doing it. Or perhaps you hear someone else’s voice telling you to do it. In that case, you need to ask yourself , “Is this what I really want to do? Is this my clear intention?” Take a careful look at your choices.

A major key in the process of staying on course is moving to the true self, and that calls for caring for our self and caring for others. In the true self, we stop judging. We stop hurting our self or others. Then we can source our true self for influence and direction. That bright and clear direction becomes intentions, that then become better choices with better results.

The god of opinion often masquerades as an authority with the message that says, “You’re not good enough.” If you hear that message inside, ask yourself if it’s coming from your “true self” or the “false self.” The god of opinion or the negative power can influence and test us in our weaknesses, especially when we’re not standing up in our true nature.

Whatever you’ve been doing instead of staying on course with your intention is the very thing you need to stop doing. Look at whether you’re caught up in the minutia and small stuff that would keep you from looking from the altitude, your true self, that sees how things are working best. That means taking care of yourself and helping take care of others.

Keep your eyes and ears open, watching and listening, being aware and choosing what is best in each and every moment. Change is constant. Be open and flexible. Be open to “tacking” in order to stay on course. Be open to getting out your oars and rowing for awhile.John-Roger once said, “Steady as the North Star, flexible as the wind." So be willing to be the change to stay on course with your intention and whatever is serving for the highest good.

Baruch Bashan (the blessings already are)