Disposition, Intentions & Organizing

I heard last Sunday from church service that an intentional life lived unto God is less of a circumstantial thing and more of a disposition. That was very encouraging. Intentionality after all begins with the intention behind our actions and although affected by, is not based on our circumstances. What makes our actions impactful are really the motives behind why we do them.

When I entered college, a professor told our freshmen class that he would treat us like he would any other adult because that is exactly what we were, no longer minors. And so he did. My peers and I had our immaturities coming out of high school, but our professor’s intention gave us a new disposition as college students and helped us engage in our new adult roles as he instilled in us better habits to prepare us for the future.

There are two words here that interchange in my head: Disposition: meaning someone’s attitude & character or it could also mean how something is arranged - and then there’s intention: meaning someone’s plan, aim or purpose for doing something.

I think shaping our heart’s disposition (let’s get to the root of this guys) is power when it comes to intentionally organizing our minds and spaces. Fortunately, this “shaping” does not all have to be so abstract. I like the intention (wink wink**) of this organizing gig because it says that you can use your physical spaces to help you create a healthy mental disposition to get you going with your goals. In a sense, it helps to visually dress our environment to help us play our part. So I’m choosing to use both definitions of disposition here to my advantage. Not only am I going to #1 : shape my attitude and character; but in support of that, I’m going to #2 : engage in positioning the physical arrangement of the room that I’m in so that I can be motivated with the right intentions and find inspiration in my ideas. The latter sets me up for the former.

Some real life esssssamples:

• As a minimalist, having less clothes personally helps me feel happier and in control of what I like to wear. When I open my closet, it is a celebration because I like everything I see.
  

• I think having plants & flowers in our homes & offices is very important. I don't care if it’s fake or real- I have both. Having a little green inside our gray concrete, fast-paced industrial world is good for our souls. They’re relaxing. Everyone’s into succulents nowadays, and I honestly love it. I killed my first one...I think I’m more of a dragon plant, sansevieria kind of plant- mom but I promise I’m trying to keep this second one alive.
  

• As much as it is possible, I like to see an empty sink. Dishes just makes my head cloudy. They need to be washed. No dirty plate is sleeping over in my house. It can take a nap, but it will not polar bear hibernate in my kitchen.
  

• My husband works from home and we recently decided that we would hide his monitor screens in the closet every weekend. His desk is weekly replaced with a small plant and a nice little photo of us. This small physical change helps us to focus on resting and spending time together on Saturdays and Sundays.

These are but a few things. They may seem small but these manageable arrangements impact my home and work in profound ways. They help shape my heart’s disposition which allows me to live a healthy, intentional life.

What the preacher man said from last Sunday reminds me of this verse from Proverbs:

“Let your eyes look straight ahead;

fix your gaze directly before you.

Give careful thought to the paths

for your feet and be steadfast

in all your ways.” -Proverbs 4:25-26

In context, the passage not only tells the reader to love wisdom but how to live wisely. And in this verse, that is by giving concern to what we are looking at and where we are walking. Why? Because the spaces we place ourselves in, what we see and walk on, greatly impact our heart’s disposition. I think there’s a lot of wisdom in that.

...organizing just got deep guys.