One Word Intention | S1E002

Hello and welcome to A Call for LOVE. I believe the most powerful gift you can offer yourself is to give and receive love more freely. I'm your host, Linda Orsini, meditation guidance, spiritual coach. Everyone has the desire to be seen, heard, respected and loved. The journey to becoming more connected to your greater purpose lies within the ability to live from the deep source of love within you. Let's begin.

Do you have a one word intention that you set every year? Well, I've been doing this for the last couple of years, and I wanted to share some information with you about it today. If you've ever considered it, let's dive in and discuss this a little further. So why set a one word intention? And that's because it's like, if you were going to a travel agent, and you said to them, I'd like to go away, I really need a break. I want to go away and the travel agent says to you, Well, where do you want to go? And you say, Well, I don't know, I just need to change. I want to be happy. And I want it to be great. So the travel agent books you a trip to Timbuktu and you go, which is in Africa. And it's really hot. And you come back and saying that Why did you put me to Timbuktu? It's really hot there. I didn't want that hot. I mean, I liked the heat, but it was too much. And the travel agent said, Well, you said you wanted fun and something new and something different. So chose Timbuktu. And you say to them, no, no, that was way too hot. Can you choose somewhere else? So then the travel agent books you to Nunavut, in northern territories of Canada. And you know, of course, it's a new place is fairly interesting, although it's a little barren, haven't been there. But I imagine it's super, super cold. And you come back and you say, Wow, that was just so cold. Why could you Why did you poke me to none of it, it's so cold there. And the travel agent said, Well, you didn't like the hot heat. And so then I thought I'd try something a little colder. The travel agent was guessing grasping at straws. And this is what I feel what happens when you do not set an intention.

So as a yoga teacher, at the beginning of class, I often state, you know, set an intention for your practice today. And you know, I as a student have in a yoga class, sometimes I set an intention, and sometimes I don't, and probably the students that I'm teaching, sometimes they set an intention, and sometimes they don't. But when you set an intention, you're planting a seed. It's just like that little acorn that grows into a big oak tree, you know, you just don't know what it's going to become. So that's why I like to set a one word intention each year.

So let's dive into this a little further. There are some parameters I use to set my one word intention. And that one is the first one is I kind of pay attention. Paying attention is a present moment experience. So I pay attention to really what my heart longs for. And what is my deepest desire. I kind of play with that a little bit, maybe meditate, walk, think about it, write down several different words, and see how they resonate. And I just want to pay attention to the feeling that I want to create. So you might want to do this too. Just imagine paying attention to your present moment experience over a couple of days, and see what the intention you want to create for the year. What your heart really longs for what your heart really desires. And then it's really important to be clear here. It's really important to be clear of your one word, like don't be wishy washy, just like going to the travel agent and saying I want to be happy. It's too big to narrow down a little bit more. Really make it tangible and accessible. So I want to share a little story with you and I don't think my sister or my or my sisters is single and while she was single and she was she wanted to meet somebody. So I always said to her listen, write down write down your intention, and then you can manifest it. She never really did, but she decided to try it this time. So she said I would like a single man to take me out for dinner before my birthday. And her birthday was in October. She waits and sure enough, a couple of days before her birthday. A single man invites her to go out for dinner for her birthday and That single man was my brother and his single son. It was very funny, we had quite a big chuckle out of it. Because while it was beautiful, my brother and his son wanted to take my sister out for dinner. And they're both single, and it was before her birthday. But it's not really what she had in mind. What she had in mind is really meaning a life partner. Well, she became a little bit more specific. And in fact, she did meet a wonderful man who is she is still saying, seeing now, not that it always happens. But I really do believe the power of paying attention to what your heart desires, and setting a clear intention, like a clear word.

The third thing I'd like you to keep in mind, is your word should be simple. Yes, you can have a big phrase, you can have a mission statement, I have a mission statement. And they're very powerful. But for this purpose is just a one word. So I'm going to share with you for the past three years, my words, my first word for 2020 was transformation. And that was very fitting because I had been a school elementary school teacher for over 30 years. And I decided to retire at my first eligibility date, which was June 30 2020. So I figured this was going to be the year of transformation. And it was a huge, there was lots and lots of transformation. Was it good? Yes, it was good. But transformation is not always easy. It's like the butterfly coming out of his chrysalis. It was all good. It was all great. But it was a little rough, going into new territory and reinventing myself. So for 2021, I decided to choose a new word. And I don't know why I chose this word. It seemed really good at the time, but the word was resilience. So if I thought transformation was a little challenging, resilience was a lot more challenging. In that year, I lost my mother in law got sick, she passed, my mother got more sick, and she passed. And just just personal fears and self limiting beliefs. I was forced to practice resilience over and over and over and over. And I'm gonna say it again and over again. It was really tough. That's what I asked for. I asked for the gift of practicing resilience, and I got it. So lessons learned. I wasn't going to do that again. 2022, my dear friend, Valerie chip in, she painted me the word flourish on a rock. And I really loved it. I thought, You know what, this is a really great word flourish, it means thriving, coming into your own. That's exactly what I want. I've done with transformation I've done with resilience. For now, I'd like to manifest and really set my intention on being in a state of flourish. Well, this is the thing with creating an intention. It's not always according to your timeline. So just like the little acorn that goes in the ground, that grows into a beautiful majestic oak tree, it takes water, it takes fertile soil, it takes air, it takes sun. When you're planting your intention, you really want to nourish it. And it does require patience, this past year 2022 Did I flourish? Well, not until really the fall. So the last quarter of the year, I feel like flourish really manifested in my life. It required patience. And I was thinking, like, late spring, in the summer, that maybe I should change my word. Because I wasn't seeing really the flourish that I anticipated, hoped for and wanted. But I had it written in stone, literally. So I thought no, I really need to allow some patience. I need to take one step forward. Every day I continue to plant those seeds, nourish my intention and see where it goes. Well sure enough, things became to flow a lot easier for me in the fall, which is beautiful, new, new creations for instances, this podcast. I feel like flourish was a big part of my life this year. Those are three examples of words that I have set. I'll share my word for 2023 with you

So the fourth step is to keep it positive. If you're setting an intention, just my personal opinion, you may want to consider keeping your word quite positive. And the fifth and last step, which is a bit juicy, is how much do you really want it? How much do you really want this intention? So on a scale of one to 10, where one is not at all and 10 is like, so important to you? How bad do you want this intention that you want to create and manifest in your life this year. So when you're considering that, remember, once again, the seed in the ground, that little oak, that acorn that grows into big oak tree, it will require time it will require patience and nurturing and attention and care. And if that's something that resonates with you, then that's the word that's for you. But you'll also need courage. You'll need courage to stay the course. And you're going to have to choose some courage. And the first one is physical courage. Is your body strong enough to manifest this intention? So if I said, climb, as my word like, I could climb obstacles, I could climb mountains, I could climb to the next level in my business or work. Climate is a great word, but I'm not going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, right? So is it physically possible? That's physical courage. The other one is emotional courage, do you feel worthy enough of the word that you're chosen? I went to see a wonderful lady. And she says, you know, if they're not on team, Karen, they're not on my team, because her name was Karen. And I thought, wow, emotional courage. You know, if people aren't on Team Linda or on your name, with team in front of it, maybe it's time that in order to create that intention, and manifest it, you need to surround yourself with people who love and support you unconditionally. That is another thing to really, really be mindful of the emotional courage to know who to spend your time with, and who to help you on your path. And the last one is the moral courage, to have the moral courage, the stamina, to really be reflective, to follow your inner wisdom, maybe to meditate, to find stillness, to find quiet to think. So that is being very mindful and is paying attention to each moment. Now, when you pay attention. That's a present moment experience that builds intention. So those are the three courage, physical, emotional, and moral. So those are the five steps to that I use to create an intention for the year. Now it's fitting for me to share my one word for 2023. And I have I really debated about this, it does take me a little bit of time. And the reason the way I actually choose my one word is how it settles with me how it feels in my heart, and how it feels in my stomach.

So my word for this year is faith. And I wanted to choose believe, but I just had feel faith is a little deeper, it's a little bit more spiritual, it's a little bit more soulful. And when I mean faith, I don't mean religious faith. I mean, faith in love, faith in myself, faith in my relationships, faith in knowing that, you know, we have the possibility to create, to create a better world to create a better mindset, I just want to have more faith in myself, those around me and the world. I really feel like this is going to be a fertile soil for me. Because with faith, I can flourish. And actually, now that I'm saying that I really should have faith before I flourished, because flourish required faith. And I had a lot of fear. So it's hard to create the intention of flourish without faith. It is what it is. This year, I'm going to create the intention of having faith. Now that will evolve right now I'm thinking faith in myself, faith in those around me, faith that I know I'm supported, like internally, externally and from the universe, creator or spirit. And that could evolve as the year goes on. So I'm really interested to see how that goes. really plays out in my life. If you have a word that you've already chosen for this coming year, please let me know. Please share it. And if you haven't chosen a word, maybe that's something you want to consider. Remember, there's no rules. It's just an invitation to maybe say, Hmm, if I had to choose a word, what would my word be this year, and maybe sit with it, give it some space, and see what comes up sometimes or very often. What comes up is in the middle of the night or early morning for me, I feel like that's where I really tap into my inner source of wisdom and intuition, and just my feeling senses. Just notice when that comes up for you, and write it down. Remember, don't forget to write it down. I hope this inspires you. And from my heart to yours. Namaste.