You Are Your Intentions

There are basically good, bad and neutral intentions. Good as in beautiful or selfless, bad as in ugly or selfish and neutral as in neither good or bad.

Our intentions are fueled by our likes and dislikes. Often times, the emotions are so strong that they completely override any logic and reason. In other words, we become slaves to our emotions. Having said that, you still have to take full responsibility for your intentions and actions.

In the above examples, the guys and the waitress had selfish intentions. The guys were physically attracted to the young woman and wanted to have sex with her. While the waitress smiled all the time to earn more tips.

If you work on yourself to become a better person, you have good intentions; which has a positive effect on the people around you.

But let's view the scenarios from a different angle. Imagine that the guys had good intentions. Then, they wouldn't have looked at the young woman as a mere sex object, which would have sparked a pleasant atmosphere. Given that, she would have been able to relax and enjoy their company more fully.

A waitress with good intentions doesn't smile her way through the shift just to get better tips. Instead, the prime focus should be to be attentive and offer the customers good service. Can you see the difference?

Do you want to become a better person to gain respect from your spiritual friends? Well, then your intentions are impure.

I'm not expecting you to agree with the examples in this article. However, when you're mindful, other people's intentions become quite obvious. You can tell by the way they project themselves if they have good, bad or neutral intentions.

Mindfulness also sheds light on your own intentions, though processes and emotions.