Living With Intention and Appreciation

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I don't make New Year's Resolutions anymore - well, I say I don't, but I always scrawl some down secretly; I never share them with anyone else though.

Faiza mentioned the phrase New Year's Intentions once on her blog.  I quite liked that - it fit with what I am trying to embrace in my life, but didn't quite know how to articulate it.  Then February rolled around and the resolutions rolled down that slope that seems to get steeper and steeper as the years march on, but the thoughts kept rattling around and around in my head.

Last year, I attended a leadership workshop - what resonated most with me was the phrase "Live with intention."  They talked about the number of times you see friends and say something along the lines of "Oh, we must get together!" but then that's the last time you see them, until you bump into them again.  Basically, don't say it if you're not going to do it. 
Then this quote popped up a few times in my blog trawling:

 "Live with intention.  Walk to the edge.  Listen hard.  Practice wellness.  Play with abandon.  Laugh.  Choose with no regret.  Appreciate your friends.  Continue to learn.  Do what you love.  Live as if this is all there is." - Mary Anne Radmacher

 
So, I decided the universe was trying to send me a message and I'd better stop and listen for a bit.

I know it's a lot bigger than getting in touch with your friends and inviting them over for coffee, but it's a start.  So I've started living with intention a bit more now.  I am actively working on all of those things, but most of all, I appreciate my friends.  I'm working on expressing this and staying in touch a bit better than I have in the past.  It's not that hard to pick up the phone, even with a time difference... there's nothing wrong with leaving a message and just saying, "Hi, I'm thinking of you."

Recently, I had some friends over to our new house.  (How long is it new for?  May I keep calling it our new house until we've been here a year?)  I invited my neighbours from many moons ago over to check out our new digs.  I moved out my little flat almost 6 years ago, and since then, my contact with them has been sporadic.  My neighbours were more than just friends - they were (are) my family here.  They fed me, clothed me, took care of me and even bathed me (I was allowed to use their bathtub upstairs when they weren't home.)  Like with a lot of family, it's easy to take them for granted.  They're always there in your thoughts, but it's easy to let it slide - after all, we're all just so busy.  So I sent an email to invite them over.  No response from two families, but a 'yes' from one.  Okay, that's a start.  I could have left it, but I thought that enough was enough.  So I texted the other two.  Still no answer.  Easy enough to just give up, but that's not living with intention!  So I rang - I picked up the phone, had a good old yarn and voila - they were all here on Friday evening.

It was fantastic.  We laughed and chattered like no time had passed - they oohed and aahed over our expansive garden and left laden with bags of veggies.  It was a perfect evening (although my healthy eating went straight out the window that day, but it was well worth it), which should have happened sooner.  I definitely intend to do it with more of my friends, more often.  That's a promise.

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