by Jodi
Intentions are the fuel to manifesting your goals and visions. ~ Chandresh Bhardwaj
In April, my husband and I travelled to Greece for a Yoga and Meditation Retreat on the island of Amorgos. Situated on the Aegean Sea, it’s a beautiful, largely self-sustaining location with most of the foods eaten by the islanders grown locally. There aren’t a lot of roads on Amorgos and the roads that are present were carved out of the Earth and paved as recently as the late 1980's which is also around the time when the island got electricity.
Getting There is Half the Adventure
What there are is lots of trails criss-crossing the island and plenty of hills varying between moderate and difficult to traverse. This abundance of trails has made Amorgos a favorite island for hikers to visit and its remote location has made it a destination where one doesn't arrive by accident. Without an airport of its own, Amorgos is reached by boat only a few days per week in the off season and the ferry ride from Athens takes 9 hours! During the warmer summer months, a ferry runs daily from both the port of Athens and from the nearby islands of Naxos and Santorini which is still around 4 or 5 hours by ferry.
Arriving On Purpose
Visiting Amorgos, as you can see, is by intention. An intention which requires a bit of planning and scheduling a variety of planes, busses, trains and boats. Once you’re on the island, whether just taking a stroll down to the beach or visiting one of the lovely monasteries, there’ll most certainly be some trekking up and down the hilly terrain.
Cooperating with Nature
Some trails have been well established through the years and those paths are easily followed. Other trails require you to search for the ‘friendly spots’ where it’s easiest to continue moving forward. At times, you need to grab a handhold of some kind or walk around an obstacle to find safe passage. When it becomes necessary to stop and hydrate, turning around and seeing the views of island and sea behind you is a breathtakingly beautiful experience rewarding your efforts and fueling your desire to continue the climb.
Respect the Journey
Whether you’re competing in a race, earning a degree, starting a business or raising a family - it all starts with intention. The intention is the inspiration, the idea or the goal. What comes next is the plan, the action and the path. It can get challenging as we continue doing the work and it can feel, at times, like we’re always going uphill. Sometimes we find obstacles that we need to navigate around. Other times we must search for a hand to grasp and help us over a rough patch. Every so often though, we need to remind ourselves to stop, turn around and look at how far we’ve come. When we give ourselves the time to be awed by what we’ve accomplished so far we create the space to fill ourselves up with renewed passion to continue the journey.
Originally Posted in June 2016
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