With each transition, comes a new opportunity. A chance to do and see things differently. An opportunity to be transformed. Transitions come in all shapes and sizes. Whether it’s ringing in a new year, traveling to a place yet unknown, or arriving home from a day of work, we have the chance to set a new goal or intention for the next segment of our lives, no matter how long or short it may be.
In the spirit of appreciation for the power of transitions, I’d like to set my intention for 2019. My intention is to be more intentional. Let me explain. As we move through our lives, we develop habits—patterns of being, thinking, and doing that ease our movement through the world. These grow out of our learning about what is most efficient or effective, saving us time and energy. Or they are simply automatic responses we’ve repeated many times before. While these habits can bring feelings of comfort and ease, they also bring rigidity and lack of awareness and present a barrier to positive growth and change. We become fixed in a structure with few novel and interesting experiences. While we feel safe as we engage in the familiar and known, there is little room for what we really want, which are novel opportunities—encounters with the potential to spark something new in us. Something to help us to tap into the magic of our everyday experience.
At the grocery store the other day, I found myself automatically preparing my credit card payment while simultaneously getting out the cash with which I meant to pay. When I handed over a cash payment, I was faced with a confused cashier who was being kind by asking me, “Do you want to split the payment?” Sheepishly, I laughed and admitted that I was functioning on autopilot. As I walked away from the interaction, shaking my head and internally reprimanding myself, I also took the opportunity to appreciate the gentle reminder from the universe that I don’t want to live my life automatically. I want to stretch myself. I want to be open to new prospects, new creations.
So, it is from this place that I set my resolution of being more intentional. Of course, I know that it will grow and change throughout the year and bring with it the unexpected and unknown. I look forward to these remarkable experiences and so much more.