Living in Intention vs Living in Reaction

Lightning in the Puerto Vallarta nighttime sky

A little over a week ago, my partner Richard and I sat on a rooftop on our last night in Puerto Vallarta, watching the nighttime sky filled with thunder, lightning and heavy rains pouring over the city. Our response: pure delight.
 
“Wow, we hardly ever get to witness anything like this,” we said to one another. “What a blessing to be here in this moment.”
 
Now, throughout our trip we had talked about taking an evening beach walk to see the fireflies at Los Muertos Beach. I had never seen fireflies before, and this was our last night to catch them before we flew back home to Los Angeles.
 
But alas, nature had its own plans.
 
Yeah, I had wanted to catch my first sight of fireflies, but the fantastic show we witnessed in the raging sky more than made up for it.
 
There’s a lesson here to recognize.
 
In life, you get to choose how you respond to the unexpected. You can choose to live in reaction, or you can choose to live in intention.
 
When you live in reaction, it means that you see life as happening to you. You are powerless. You are at the whim of some outside governing force, entity, person or event. If something happens that messes up your idea of fun or good, then you easily place blame on the other.
 
On the other hand, when you live in intention, you embrace life as the creative energy that moves through you and as you. You stand in your power. Living in intention means that you own your choices and you get to decide how you respond to life’s surprises.
 
One of my intentions is to encounter surprise and delight each and every day.
 
On that last day in Puerto Vallarta, I experienced my moment of delight with Richard in that torrential outpouring of rain with the wind lashing all around us and with booming thunder making us jump in our seats.
 
Witnessing the awesome force of nature, I felt alive.
 
How can you apply this story to your life? Here are your coaching questions for the week that can help:
 

• Where in your life have you experienced something unexpected?
• Looking at that experience, notice how you responded. Did you live in reaction, or did you live in intention?
• If you reacted, can you look back at that experience and open to another way of looking at it? Is there any good you can see in that experience?
• Finally, what is one intention that you would like to embrace in your own life?

 
Living in intention inherently means that you are a change agent. You have the power to change your own thinking and your outlook of life.
 
Knowing that you have an infinite number of thoughts and ideas to choose about who you are and what you can do, which ones are you ready to embrace?
 
Love and Abundant Blessings to you. Namaste.
 
I’d love to hear what this blog brings up for you. Let me know by liking or leaving a comment below. 

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Joselito Laudencia helps people bridge the spiritual and practical path to career and financial freedom. He is the creator of "Re-Write Your Money Story" "Finding Your Right Work," and “Vision Your Best Life.” He is a spiritual life coach and Centers for Spiritual Living Practitioner. If you're feeling unfulfilled and stuck in the areas of career, money or life in general, you don't have to figure it out by yourself. You can schedule a 30-minute Free Clarity Session with Prayer and get clear on what's stopping you from living the life that you love. Click here to schedule your 30-minute Free Clarity Session with Prayer.

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