The Power of Intention
I love being by the ocean at the beginning of the year. The past two years this has been in New Jersey so nothing warm and tropical but rather crisp and cool, vast and quiet. A symbol of eternal change. It’s amazing to me how the ocean can be so steadfast on one hand with an ever-changing coastline on the other. The ocean seems to have it together – brilliant in timelessness completely unashamed by its behavior.
It's here last year that I decided on an intention as a “new year’s resolution” instead of a goal. Working in medicine and research during my career, the analytical mind loves SMART goals. What can be measured? How can we measure change? How do we know when to shift course? And I still admire and set goals but there has been too much change too quickly in my life since the COVID pandemic that I didn’t feel that was right for 2022. And what I found instead was an amazing anchor for my 2022 journey. I set one simple intention for the year: I intend to not fight against the universe.
And, wow, trying to hold that intention was hard! 2022 for me included several job changes, family medical emergencies, raising kids, a new pregnancy, and of course my new venture in bringing about Spring & Spruce. My timeline was never linear and I learned a lot about going with the flow – Reed in the Water I told my business coach. However, through all of its up and downs, when I needed some grounding, my new year’s intention was a powerful rock.
Recently, I had the pleasure of hearing a great talk by Dr. Jill Weintraub (https://jillweintraubmd.com), an integrative rheumatologist in New York. We discussed the holistic treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other illnesses and she explained that intention setting was an important piece of a holistic health plan for her patients. She would have patients imagine what well looked like, set an intention around how they wanted their care to go, write it down, and hang it somewhere they could see. She has found that her patients who engage in this intention setting stay motivated and have better outcomes with their disease progression and remission.
My invitation to you for 2023 is to think of an intention to bring with you as you go through the year. It can be a simple phrase. It can be where you hope to be at the end of 2023. It can be who you hope to be. And let it be something worthy of your whole-hearted self. Write it down, put it in your phone, or commit it to memory. Go back to it from time to time or when you need some grounding in your life. Let it lift you when light is needed. May it bring you back to the present moment.
Wishing you an amazing 2023!
To your health and well-being,
Dr. Jen
