What does it mean to live a life of intentionality? 

Living life with intentionality can be one of the most impactful decisions you make. Do you ever feel that your time, energy, and effort are wasted? Our lives are filled with events, circumstances, and activities that we can control or we cannot control, and being intentional means that we are controlling the controllables. 

As humans, we have the gift of reasoning and thinking. With this comes the ability to choose what to do with our time and actions. We also can use this gift to respond rather than react to our emotions. It’s so easy to write these words, but the truth is it takes hard work and effort in these areas to be intentional. The practice of intentionality is taking an active role in your life rather than letting life happen to you. 

This Sunday at our church, we’re talking about prayers of contemplation, the idea of meditating on who God is. I find that my prayers are so often short, selfish, and one way. I don’t give space to God to communicate with me, let alone meditate on His character. I recognize that I need to be more intentional with my prayer life and meditate on who God is. 

How do we do that? How do we become more intentional? Here are some things that I’ve found helpful over the years. 

1. Put it on your calendar. If something is on your calendar, you’re more likely to honor the time commitment that you made. Also, it blocks others from stealing that time.
2. Have guiding principles. Creating guiding principles for your life removes the choice from a handful of decisions each day.  
3. Get accountable. Share with a trusted friend what you’re trying to accomplish and permit them to ask you how you’re doing.
4. Keep metrics. If what you’re trying to be intentional about is measurable, keep metrics or a journal so you can see how you’re doing or progressing.

One final question, is there a time to be intentionally unintentional? I think the answer to this is yes. The Super Bowl is this weekend and I’m choosing to be intentionally unintentional about what I eat. I’m okay with this because it’s my choice and I understand the reason why and the consequences of my choice.