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    Live with Intention: Remember And Do What Matters
    Live with Intention: Remember And Do What Matters
    Live with Intention: Remember And Do What Matters
    Ebook220 pages2 hours

    Live with Intention: Remember And Do What Matters

    By Mary Anne Radmacher

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    About this ebook

    “A book of beauty, creativity, wisdom, and great good will. Her chapter on forgiveness alone is worth the price of the book.” —Hugo Prather, bestselling author of Notes to Myself

    Mary Anne Radmacher is among the most-quoted women writers of our day. Her wisdom is found on greeting cards, journals, calendars, Instagram and Pinterest, in broadcast news, sermons, ceremonies and commencement speeches.

    This noted author, artist and teacher lost a dear one. As memorial to her friend her book became the manifesto for an intentional life for thousands of people. In Live with Intention, Radmacher shares the story of how she learned to live more robustly by watching how her courageous friend chose to die. People who keep Radmacher’s writings at the ready, say this writing is both inspiring and comforting. Extraordinary lessons are drawn from ordinary experiences. Rich in story, metaphor and poetry, Live with Intention explores with you what it means to live each day with purposeful intent:
    • Understand what matters most for you
    • Deepen what already makes your life rich
    • Determine your unique way to make a difference


    “Live with Intention is a pure gift . . . Pick up this gem and bask in insight after insight.” —David Kundtz, author of The Art of Stopping

    “Live with Intention gives us the tools to believe we can go after dreams and actually capture them.” —Pat Ballard, author of 10 Steps to Loving Your Body (No Matter What Size You Are)

    “Beautiful, artistic, inspiring, and written from her heart.” —Dr. Patrick Williams, coauthor of Becoming a Professional Life Coach
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateOct 27, 2020
    ISBN9781642502978
    Author

    Mary Anne Radmacher

    Mary Anne Radmacher is a writer and an artist. She conducts workshops on living a full, creative, balanced life; teaches Internet writing seminars; and works with individual clients. She has been writing since she was a child, and she uses her writing to explore symbols and find meaning. Among her special honors, she counts the respect of her peers and the friendship of children. She is the author of Lean Forward into Your Life and Live Boldly. She lives in the thriving university town of Gainesville, FL, in close proximity to amazing humans and fine dogs. Visit her online at www.maryanneradmacher.net.

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      Book preview

      Live with Intention - Mary Anne Radmacher

      Copyright © 2020 by Mary Anne Radmacher.

      Published by Conari Press, an imprint of Mango Publishing Group, a division of Mango Media Inc.

      Cover Design and Layout: Roberto Núñez

      Mango is an active supporter of authors’ rights to free speech and artistic expression in their books. The purpose of copyright is to encourage authors to produce exceptional works that enrich our culture and our open society.

      Uploading or distributing photos, scans or any content from this book without prior permission is theft of the author’s intellectual property. Please honor the author’s work as you would your own. Thank you in advance for respecting our author’s rights.

      For permission requests, please contact the publisher at:

      Mango Publishing Group

      2850 S Douglas Road, 2nd Floor

      Coral Gables, FL 33134 USA

      info@mango.bz

      For special orders, quantity sales, course adoptions and corporate sales, please email the publisher at sales@mango.bz. For trade and wholesale sales, please contact Ingram Publisher Services at customer.service@ingramcontent.com or +1.800.509.4887.

      Live with Intention: Remember and Do What Matters

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication number: 2020940931

      ISBN: (print) 978-1-64250-296-1, (ebook) 978-1-64250-297-8

      BISAC category code: SEL021000, SELF-HELP / Motivational & Inspirational

      Printed in the United States of America

      To Gillian and Matt,

      the founders and innovators at Quotable Cards

      Thank you for including my words in the work you do in the world. You took your love of words and invited mine into your company’s collection with graphic beauty and immediacy. I am grateful to you for broadcasting my words around the world and letting them keep such luminous and inspiring company.

      Design by Quotable Cards, Inc.

      *Used with permission. Shown in black and white.

      Step well the path of remembering lit by the stars you have placed, with intention, in the canopy of your own night sky.

      —Mary Anne Radmacher

      A goal is a thing you decide to do. It has a measured result and an ending. An intention is an established motivation that guides you to your goal. It is boundless and only ends when you do.

      —Mary Anne Radmacher

      Table of Contents

      Author Note

      The Parts of This Book

      Part I

      Live with Intention

      Introduction

      Rooted Deeply

      Be You, the More You, the Better

      A Story of Calm Intention

      Chapter 1

      Live with Intention

      Your Day Has a Soundtrack

      Who’s in That Mirror?

      A Case for Writing

      Invest in Consistent Measure

      One Thing and Many Things

      Old Road

      Chapter 2

      Completion Walk to the Edge

      Just Begin It

      Begin as If You Intend to Finish

      Call Them Targeted Completion Dates

      The Long-Term Done Lives in Today’s DO

      Speak Quietly to Yourself

      Chapter 3

      Spirit Listen Hard

      In Listening to Others, I Can Hear the Universe

      Seen OR Unseen, a World Exists Beside Me

      Pay Attention

      Learn to Listen with a Practiced Pause

      Origami as Metaphor for Listening Hard

      Currency of Spirit

      Chapter 4

      Health Practice Wellness

      Self-Care: Movement toward Health

      In Perspective: Choices Are Opportunities

      Honoring the Health of Others

      Car as Metaphor

      So Many Systems, Only One You

      Choose Love

      Turn Yourself Toward a Regular Sabbath

      Beyond Desiring, Move to Admiring

      Chapter 5

      Playfulness Play with Abandon

      The Key to Brilliance Is Serious: PLAY!

      Some Day Are Simply Meant for Playing

      Celebration Has Many Outfits but Always Wears the Same

      Comfortable Shoes

      Sit, Stay, Heal: How One Big Black Dog Trained my Heart

      Chapter 6

      Gratitude Laugh

      Talk About Everything That’s Gone Right in the Day

      Change Your Story

      Relax into the Natural Embrace of the Day

      Chapter 7

      Perspective Fail with Enthusiasm

      Willingness to Succeed Partners with the Willingness to Fail

      Close That Ledger

      Broken

      Heart Shaped Rocks

      When Angels Cry (A Myth That Might Be True)

      Because

      Chapter 8

      Forgiveness Choose with No Regret

      Hardly Ever

      A Gift of Grace to Myself

      Celebrate Seeing the Door to Change

      The Road to Restorative Sleep

      Forgive, Move On, Learn

      Does Forgiveness Imply Tolerating Bad Behavior?

      Every Ending Draws the Line for the Next Beginning

      A Blessing

      Chapter 9

      Enthusiasm Continue to Learn

      Begin Each Day Aligned with Your Enthusiastic Purpose

      Learn as If Your Life Depends on It—Because It May

      What If I Just Acted Like Everything Was Easy?

      Every Road’s an Adventure When You Travel with Enthusiasm

      A Fine Role Model for Enthusiasm and Learning

      In Praise of Dogs

      Chapter 10

      Relationship Appreciate Your Friends

      Alone into Together

      Fully Present for Yourself First

      Being Attentive Has So Many Rewards

      A Lingering Scent

      Stand by Your Family

      No Day Is Wasted in Which a Single Moment Is Spent on Love

      If You Have One Friend, You Hold the Hand of the World

      Be Certain

      A Feather

      Chapter 11

      Leadership Lead and Follow a Leader

      And Instead of Or

      Talk to People Who Know How to Lead and Follow

      Leadership Has a Long Reach

      We Are Made of Stars

      A Parade Named You

      Chapter 12

      Dream Do What You Love

      May Your Heart Be Awakened to All Your Dreams

      Pursue What You Love

      What Art Does

      You Go Where Your Thoughts Go

      Lean Forward into Your Life

      When You Jump into Your Dreams, Are Your Eyes Open or Closed?

      Many Ways to Jump

      Dream Like You Know Where You’re Going

      Willingness Shines the Light on Your Path

      Let Imagined Outcomes Drive Chosen Actions

      Ribbons of Dreams

      Chapter 13

      Generosity Live As If This Is All There Is

      We Cannot Know

      The Muscle that Builds with Use

      Recognize the Value in the Priorities of Others

      A Single Generosity Enlarges the World

      Just How Busy Are You?

      Enlist in the Company of Angels

      Future Value

      Artful Intention

      Message in a Shell

      Here There Be Dragons

      Watch What You Carry

      Part II

      Remember and Do What Matters

      One

      Two

      Three

      Four

      Five

      Six

      Seven

      Eight

      Nine

      Ten

      Eleven

      Twelve

      Thirteen

      Fourteen

      Fifteen

      Sixteen

      Seventeen

      Eighteen

      Nineteen

      Twenty

      Twenty-One

      Twenty-Two

      Acknowledgements

      P.S.

      About the Author

      Author Note

      Thank you for holding this book in your hand, and putting it in front of your eyes.

      Those who loved the first release of Live with Intention: Rediscovering What We Deeply Know will find that this is so more than a rerelease. A lot of my life has changed in the last decade, and so have the contents of this book, including the subtitle Remember and Do What Matters and the addition of a Part Two self-guided course.

      I am grateful to Mango Publishing for providing the opportunity to enjoy another dance with this volume.

      The Parts of This Book

      This book was first written ten years ago. In this reimagined volume, I bring the lessons and experiences of the last ten years of my life to its pages. These years have added two lines to my original poem as it was first composed decades ago: fail with enthusiasm, and lead and follow a leader. Each chapter holds my reflections on the meaning of each line. While this book can certainly be read start to finish, it’s more impactful taken in small sections or opened randomly. The contents do not reflect a chronological order but rather the organic manner in which insight and purpose rise up in seemingly ordinary moments. I write in metaphor, in prose, in poem, in story. I share the stories of friends and meaningful words from others who have influenced me. Each chapter, in Part One, opens with commentary from someone who has been influenced by the Live with Intention poem over the years. This book follows the time-honored practice of a commonplace book. It is a gathering and a distillation of some of the most meaningful lessons and tales of my life. It is intended to inspire and uplift.

      ***

      I am primarily a poet and aphorist. I write most readily in an essay form. I hope that makes it possible for you to open this book anywhere and read for a brief period of time and have something that you can reflect on or consider. I hope you will treat the book as a reference, write in the margins, and utilize my writing as fodder for your own writing. Peppered throughout the chapters are metaphor, stories, and whimsical letters to engage your imagination and provide a deeper view into that particular phrase in my manifesto of intentional living.

      ***

      In Part Two, you’ll find the curriculum for a twenty-two-day, or if you prefer, twenty-two-step, guided process. Perhaps you have a friend with whom you would enjoy having conversations or following the remember and do what matters process together. That process, once completed, allows you to identify the things that you want to consistently do, the things that awaken your core commitments. Many people call these their key result areas. I call them the things that matter. In a practical sense, they are your intentions.

      ***

      This book in both of its iterations is the result of actively living out what I believe. I do not write speculatively. I write from my experience and share that as candidly and vulnerably as I am able. My life is not perfectly ordered, nor am I without challenges or difficulties. I actively commit to apply and assess these thirteen components in each of my days. Some days contain more of them than others. Balance and ease of cadence do not always come easily to me, and that is why I have created systems over the course of my life to help bring clarity and balance to my days. I use the systems that I teach because they help me make sense of my life; they elevate my mindfulness about what is truly important to me. Utilizing these identified intentions in my 1,440 daily minutes helps me finish my day with a sense of contentment and satisfaction. I learn to celebrate the ways in which I have been successful in those minutes and to forgive the deficits where I have fallen into forgetting. Every day, another beginning.

      ***

      Please consider my words. Take what works for you and leave the rest. I hope these words accompany you on the journey to more readily live your intentions and to remember and do what matters. Perhaps, if I am blessed with the opportunity, I’ll update this book in another ten years!

      Part I

      Live with Intention

      Introduction

      If we do everything else but that one thing, we will be lost. And if we do nothing else but that one thing, we will have lived a glorious life.
      —Rumi

      live with intention.

      walk to the edge.

      listen hard.

      practice wellness.

      play with abandon.

      fail with enthusiasm.

      laugh.

      choose with no regret.

      continue to learn.

      lead and follow a leader.

      appreciate your friends.

      do what you love.

      live as if this is all there is.

      This poem, all forty-six words of it, summarizes how I aspire to live my life. These thirteen directives enliven me, improve my mindset, and make my heart sing when I am applying them to my task list, my goals, my embrace of each day, and how I travel regardless of where I go. I take Rumi’s reference If we do nothing else but that one thing, we will have lived a glorious life to encompass the whole of my intentions that make it possible for me to remember and do what matters.

      Here you will find stories about my experiences and those of some of my friends. As each of these directives come into play with my days and my priorities, you will find a process that has guided countless folk to arrive at their own conceptual collection that makes up their one thing—the stars in their own night sky. You’ll come to a set of prompts designed to support you as you articulate your intentions. Perhaps you will specify for the first time what your motivating intentions are! People around the world have adopted this poem as their own manifesto for living. You are welcome to that as well. Placing focus on any one of these elements, or alternatively defining your own, will enrich your experience with the 1,440 minutes that make up each of your days.

      Remembering. Yes. It is easy to drift into forgetting: forgetting our personal priorities, the things that animate the hours of our days and deliver our fundamental joys. We roll into the habit of meeting the expectations of others, seeking approval by fitting in, and, in general, responding to a status quo that does not necessarily resonate with our own intentions and goals. How can we remember those things that have inadvertently either been set aside in favor of going with a majority, disregarded, or last on a list? Defining and remembering your own intentions allows you to more readily embrace the things that really matter to you. Knowing your own intentional elements allows you to offer an unfettered yes to opportunities and an unapologetic no to others.

      Intention. Goal. What’s the difference? A goal is a destination, a place toward which you move. An intention is how you walk to that place. Your intentions are the way you navigate your way to the shores

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