The Power of Intention

Some years ago, there was a wonderful adventure movie playing in theatres - Romancing the Stone starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas. Set in Colombia, the story involves Jack T. Colton, a soldier of fortune (Douglas) and Joan Wilder, a novelist (Turner) who, for different reasons, have partnered together on a treasure hunt to find an enormous heart-shaped emerald called El Corazon.

In one scene, they are being chased by a small army of bad guys and end up in a tight place, with the army shooting at them from behind and a deep, wide canyon with a raging river far below in front of them. They are faced with a choice: cross the chasm somehow or be captured or shot. They have already attempted to use the rickety footbridge to cross the chasm, but it is too rotten and it breaks.

In one bold moment, Joan Wilder sizes up the situation, grabs hold of a thick vine, takes a running start and swings over the wide chasm, landing safely on the other side. Jack Colton hesitates, pondering the situation, having some doubts. Then, he follows suit, but swings into the side of the opposite wall of the canyon, instead of landing at the top. He then has to scramble up the side of the cliff while being shot at from the other side.

The difference in their two landings was not due to their skill levels, experience, physical abilities, or gender. In fact, the deck was stacked heavily in Colton's favor. The difference was in the degree of their intentions. Wilder was 100% intentional about reaching the other side. She just plain went for it with everything she had. Colton had some doubts and he hesitated. He was probably about 90% intentional. He made it, but with more difficulty.

In this case, the power of intention was so strong, especially for Joan Wilder, that it enabled her to overcome some enormous physical obstacles and reach her goal. What might it be like to bring that kind of full-steam-ahead-no-holding-back intention to your next goal?

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Two of my favorite books on this subject are...

• The Power of Intention, Wayne W. Dyer. Hay House, 2004.
• The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent, Esther and Jerry Hicks (The Teachings of Abraham), Hay House, 2006.

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