The Right Intent

    It's wonderful to do nice things for people. It's probably something that we should all do more of. But are our intentions always pure?


   We must not only have right actions, but we must also have the right intent. People often do things for selfish, sometimes even vengeful reasons. Being that it is Christmas time, let's use the example of buying someone a gift. An example of the wrong intention would be to give the gift with the expectation of getting one back. Another example is so that you will look like a better daughter or son to your mother than your other sibling does because your gift is better. An example of the right intention for giving someone a gift would be because you want to make them happy.


   Now I am in the process of making amends to those people whom I have harmed in my life. I am working on the twelve steps of alcoholics anonymous and I am currently on step nine. When making these direct amends to people, I must go about it with the right intent. I cannot apologize with the expectation that the other person will admit their wrongdoings towards me and apologize back. That is not how these things work. I am only trying to clean my side of the street, to get right with my perception of god, not to worry about if their side of the street is clean or not. It is completely irrelevant if they apologize or not. My intentions must be pure and unselfish.


   Another example of the wrong intent would be to do something because you want to gain recognition or praise for it. Another would be to do something sweet for someone whom you want to become attracted to you , sleep with you, or fall in love with you. Still another example would be to buy someone something real nice with the expectations that they will now do what you say. There are so many examples of the wrong intent, I could go on and on.


   To have the right intent is simple. Just do something good because it feels good doing it, because it's the right thing to do. Do it because it brings the other person joy, and that in turn, makes you happy. Others may not ever know if your intent was pure, but you will always know. And so will God, and that's the only one who really matters in the end...