With this coming week’s exact conjunction of Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune, it seems appropriate to revisit a favorite topic of mine. What is the difference between intentions and expectations?
As you read in this newsletter last month, this particular planetary pile-up in Aquarius is rather rare. The last time that Neptune and Jupiter conjoined in Aquarius was Apr-Nov 1843 – 166 years ago. At that time, Chiron was opposing the pair rather than joining them as it is now.
History buffs will find it interesting that a 19th century religious group called the Millerite Movement believed that Jesus Christ would return to earth in 1844. After much anticipation without reward, it became known as the Great Disappointment. You can read what Wikipedia says about it here.
Under this influence, there is a great potential for expanded hopes and dreams. Our ideals for our society and for our life enlarge. We may look for and think we have found “saviors” to ease our troubles in the form of new belief systems or powerful people, like President Obama, for instance.
Certainly, innovative, honest-to-goodness solutions to society’s problems could be germinated under this planetary influence, but the converse could also manifest. When the ideals and expectations fueled by our dreams don’t measure up, disappointment and disillusionment are the byproduct. What seemed so good was actually too good to be true.
Perhaps if you understand the difference between intentions and expectations, dear reader, you will not fall into disillusionment after this planetary influence passes. Rather, you could catch a glimpse of possibilities that are grounded in realistic future.
In his book The Power of Intention, Wayne Dyer lays out a 10-step process for manifesting your intentions. The steps follow much the same course as the Law of Attraction popularized in a book and a movie, The Secret.
I won’t recap those steps here, except to note that the last of his ten steps is “Develop an attitude of gratitude for all that manifests into your life.”
For me this is the key difference between “intentions” and “expectations.”
There was a time when I was full of hopes and wishes. My life at that time was sadly far from what I hoped possible. I would look around at others’ lives and wonder why I wasn’t getting my dreams fulfilled.
In retrospect, I know my focus was only on what “wasn’t” there; what was missing or unsatisfactory got all my attention. In other words, my “expectations” for my life were not manifesting because I had not learned the importance of being thankful for what already is in my life.
If we aren’t grateful for what we have, why should Spirit send us more? We would just be disappointed that it wasn’t “the moon and the stars!”
When we hold expectations that come from what we think we deserve or think is best for ourselves, we could be setting our sights too low or too high. Either way, our concrete picture of desired results IS likely to eclipse what turns out to be best for us.
I now prefer to create an intention for my future, take steps to create a welcome environment in which it can appear, and then give thanks for whatever shows up. I know whatever shows up is always just right. How? By looking back and realizing the thread of good that was always weaving through my life circumstances.
My life is full of more joy, abundance and fulfillment that I ever imagined. I have a loving partner and family, highly-conscious friends and clients, and opportunities galore to do work that makes my heart sing while helping others.
During this next few months, when you feel dreams and wishes arise, use the power of intention to help them manifest, but remember to be happy with what IS in your life. You can prime the pump for more by being truly grateful for what you have.
The important difference between intention and expectation is gratitude.
This awareness also has an application in the outer world. For example, whatever political views you hold regarding President Obama, it is not helpful to expect him to be our country’s “savior” or to see him as “inept” or to believe he has sinister aims.
If you apply my suggestion to the future of our country, you can help fulfill your hopes and dreams for the U.S. (or another other country for that matter) by the same steps – create an intention, participate in creating the environment that could manifest that dream, and then be grateful for what shows up.
After all Obama is just a man, a man with the willingness to take on the hardest job in the land, to become a dartboard for anyone’s hate, or to be placed on a pedestal from which he is sure to fall. I prefer to hold his success in my intentions for our future, while being grateful that he is there seeking to do his best.
I understand everyone will not agree with me and that is your right, but what IS important is recognizing that the intention process applies in all areas of your life. As a practical mystic, I believe spiritual principles apply in every aspect of our life, thus bringing “Spirit into matter.”
“Be thankful and filled with awe and appreciation, even if what you desire hasn’t arrived yet. Even the darkest days of your life are to be looked on with gratitude. Everything coming from Source is on purpose.”
~ Wayne Dyer, The Power of Intention
