Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8

 

In yoga, or meditation, or any kind of mindfulness activity, one of the things asked of us is to “set an intention.”
I know. It sounds hokey.
And if you feel this way, you are not alone.  
I had been an “intention skeptic” for a long time, dragging my heels and refusing to give into this thing that seemed so new age and weird and kind of woo-woo.  
But then I tried it.

I’d start my day with an intention – a word or phrase to focus my day.  
I am strong.
I will be kind.
I will be brave.
I am beautiful.
I will be grateful.
I am at peace.
I am a child of God.

And it worked.
I became what I intended.
My mind didn’t stay there all the time of course.
Yes I got distracted, because I’m human.
I still got scared.
I still got angry or bitter or jealous.
But then, like a whisper, my intention would make it’s way back into my mind.
It’s so powerful.
My yoga teacher once said that when we set an intention we honor the power of thoughts and words in our lives.
And this verse from Paul’s letter to the Philippians immediately came to my mind.
We can think about anything.
We can choose to set our minds on good things or bad things.
We can choose to think about true and honorable things, or not.  
I once heard someone say that you should set an intention for your day or the world will do it for you.  

Whew.
The mind is an amazing thing.
And we can choose.
We CAN.
We have been given the ability to choose to think about pure, true, just things.
It doesn’t mean you won’t have negative thoughts, but you can choose to think about something else.
Something that will serve you well.  

So let’s make a promise to each other, uplifters: we will not let the world decide who we are.
No way.
No more.
We have been given a name and identity already – and that is child of God.

So set your intentions.
Declare what you want to be on this day.
God has already made it true.