The Power of Intention

Making Your Intention Your Reality
by Wayne Dyer

Following are ten ways to practice nurturing your intention to respect
yourself at all times:

Step 1: Look into a mirror, make eye connection with yourself, and say
"I love me" as many times as possible during your day. I love me:
These three magic words help you maintain your self-respect. Now, be
aware that saying these words maybe difficult at first because of the
conditions you've been exposed to over a lifetime and because the
words may bring to the surface remnants of disrespect that your ego
wants you to hold on to.

Your immediate impulse might be to see this as an expression of your
ego's desire to be superior to everyone else. But this is not an ego
statement at all - it's an affirmation of self-respect. Transcend that
ego mind and affirm your love for yourself and your connection to the
spirit of God. This doesn't make you superior to anyone; it makes you
equal to all and celebrates that you're in a piece of God. Affirm it
for your own self-respect. Affirm it in order to be respectful of that
which intended you here. Affirm it because it's the way you'll stay
connected to your Source and regain the power of intention. I love me.
Say it without embarrassment. Say it proudly and be that image of love
and self-respect.

Step 2: Write the following affirmation and repeat it over and over
again to yourself: I am whole and perfect as I was created! Carry this
thought with you wherever you go. Have it laminated and place it in
your pocket, on your dashboard, on your refrigerator or next to your
bed - allow the words to become a source of high energy and
self-respect. By simply carrying these words with you and being in the
same space with them, their energy will flow directly to you.

Self-respect emerges from the fact that you respect the Source from
which you came and you've made a decision to reconnect to that Source,
regardless of what anyone else might think. It's very important to
keep reminding yourself at the beginning that you're worthy of
infinite respect from the one Source you can always count on, the
piece of God energy that defines you. This reminder will do wonders
for your self-respect, and consequently your ability to use the power
of intention in your life. Over and over, remind yourself: I'm not my
body. I'm not my accumulations. I'm not my achievements. I'm not my
reputation. I am whole and perfect as I was created!

Step 3: Extend more respect to others and to all of life. Perhaps the
greatest secret of self-esteem is to appreciate other people more. The
easiest way to do this is to see the unfolding of God in them. Look
past the judgments of others' appearance, failures and successes,
their status in society, their wealth or lack of it - and extend
appreciation and love to the Source from which they came. Everyone is
a child of God - everyone! Try to see this even in those who behave in
what appears to be a godless fashion. Know that by extending love and
respect, you can turn that energy around so that it's heading back to
its Source rather than away from it. In short, send out respect
because that is what you have to give away. Send out judgment and low
energy and that is what you'll attract back. Remember, when you judge
another, you do not define them, you define yourself as someone who
needs to judge. The same applies to judgments directed at you.

Step 4: Affirm to yourself and all others that you meet, I belong! A
sense of belonging is one of the highest attributes on Abraham
Maslow's pyramid of self-actualization (see February 2007 issue of
phenomeNEWS). Feeling that you don't belong or you're in the wrong
place can be due to a lack of self-respect. Respect yourself and your
divinity by knowing that everyone belongs. This should never come into
question. Your presence here in the universe is proof alone that you
belong here. No person decides if you belong here. No government
determines if some belong and some don't. This is an intelligent
system that you're a part of. The wisdom of Creation intended you to
be here, in this place, in this family with these siblings and
parents, occupying this precious space. Say it to yourself and affirm
it whenever necessary: I belong! And so does everyone else. No one is
here by accident!

Step 5: Remind yourself that you're never alone. My self-respect stays
intact as long as I know that it's impossible for me to be alone. I
have a "senior partner" who's never abandoned me and who's stuck with
me even in moments when I had seemingly deserted my Source. I feel
that if the universal mind has enough respect to allow me to come here
and to work through me - and to protect me in times when I strayed
onto dangerous nonspiritual turf - then this partnership deserves my
reciprocal respect. I recall my friend Pat McMahon, a talk-show host
on KTAR radio in Phoenix, Arizona, telling me about his encounter with
Mother Teresa in his studio before interviewing her for his program.
He pleaded with her to allow him to do something for her. "Anything at
all," he begged. "I'd just like to help you in some way." She looked
at him and said, "Tomorrow morning get up at 4:00 A.M. and go out onto
the streets of Phoenix. Find someone who lives there and believes that
he's alone and convince him that he's not." Great advice, because
everyone who wallows in self-doubt or appears to be lost has lost
their self-respect because they've forgotten that they're not alone.

Step 6: Respect your body! You've been provided with a perfect body to
house your inner invisible being for a few brief moments in eternity.
Regardless of its size, shape, color or any imagined infirmities, it's
a perfect creation for the purpose that you were intended here for.
You don't need to work at getting healthy; health is something you
already have if you don't disturb it. You may have disturbed your
healthy body by overfeeding it, under exercising it and over
stimulating it with toxins or drugs that make it sick, fatigued,
jumpy, anxious, depressed, bloated, ornery or an endless list of
maladies. You can begin the fulfillment of this intention to live a
life of self-respect by honoring the temple that houses you. You know
what to do. You don't need another diet, workout manual or personal
trainer. Go within, listen to your body and treat it with all of the
dignity and love that your self-respect demands.

Step 7: Meditate to stay in conscious contact with your Source, which
always respects you. I can't say this enough: meditation is a way to
experience what the five senses can't detect. When you're connected to
the field of intention, you're connected to the wisdom that's within
you. That divine wisdom has great respect for you and it cherishes you
while you're here. Meditation is a way to ensure that you stay in a
state of self-respect. Regardless of all that goes on around you, when
you enter into that sacred space of meditation, all doubts about your
value as an esteemed creation dissolve. You'll emerge from the
solemnity of meditation feeling connected to your Source and enjoying
respect for all beings, particularly yourself.

Step 8: Make amends with adversaries. The act of making amends sends
out a signal of respect for your adversaries. By radiating this
forgiving energy outward, you'll find this same kind of respectful
positive energy flowing back toward you. By being big enough to make
amends and replace the energy of anger, bitterness and tension with
kindness - even if you still insist that you're right - you'll respect
yourself much more than prior to your act of forgiveness. If you're
filled with rage toward anyone, there's a huge part of you that
resents the presence of this debilitating energy. Take a moment right
here and now to simply face that person who stands out in your mind as
someone you hurt, or directed hurt to you, and tell him or her that
you'd like to make amends. You'll notice how much better you feel.
That good feeling of having cleared the air is self-respect. It takes
much more courage, strength of character and inner conviction to make
amends than it does to hang on to the low-energy feelings.

Step 9: Always remember the self in self-respect. In order to do this,
you must recognize that the opinions of others toward you aren't
facts, they're opinions. When I speak to an audience of 500 people,
there are 500 opinions of me in the room at the end of the evening.
I'm none of those opinions. I can't be responsible for how they view
me. The only thing I can be responsible for is my own character, and
this is true for every one of us. If I respect myself, then I'm
relying on the self in self-respect. If I doubt myself, or punish
myself, I've not only lost my self-respect, I'll continue to attract
more and more doubt and lower-energy opinions with which to further
punish myself. You can't stay linked to the universal mind, which
intends all of us here, if you fail to rely on your self for your
self-respect.

Step 10: Be in a state of gratitude. You'll discover that gratitude is
the final step in each succeeding chapter. Be an appreciator rather
than a depreciator of everything that shows up in your life. When
you're saying, Thank you, God, for everything, and when you're
expressing gratitude for your life and all that you see and
experience, you're respecting Creation. This respect is within you,
and you can only give away what you have inside. Being in a state of
gratitude is the exact same thing as being in a state of respect -
respect for yourself, which you give away freely and which will return
to you tenfold.

I close with the words of Jesus of Nazareth, speaking through his
apostle Saint Matthew (Matthew 5:48): "Be perfect, therefore, as your
heavenly Father is perfect." Reconnect to the perfection from which
you originated.

You can't have any more self-respect than that!

Excerpted from The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-create Your
World Your Way

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer is the renowned bestselling author of 15 books of
nonfiction and three textbooks and has a doctorate in counseling
psychology. He lectures across the country and appears regularly on
radio and television.

http://www.drwaynedyer.com/