Ted-ology: Intention

When season 1 of Ted Lasso ended, I read interviews from the creators that they had envisioned the story would take place over 3 total seasons. At that point, I don’t recall that they weren’t picked up for the additional two but I remember how excited just the idea of that got me.

This is the end of this story that we wanted to tell, that we were hoping to tell, that we loved to tell.

- Jason Sudeikis, from an interview leading into season 3.

There is just some thing powerful that occurs when there is an intentional movement or movements behind an event, a project, or someone’s life. Maybe this speaks to the perceived randomness of how most life can appear and how when something or someone is able to accomplish what they set out to do it is so inspiring.

Even though many of the real life stories that get made into movies or shows are never as clean as the narrative arc we see on the screen portray them to be. We are a meaning making species and long for things to matter in some larger sense. It’s why we can are drawn to ideas like the Hero’s Journey or even the latest self-help book around purpose.

But what if we weren’t the main character in the story? Or what if, as Donald Miller writes, if, ‘the story of the forest is better than the story of the tree’? Could we still see the power and inspiration in the little moments of intention by others and ourselves?

This subtle shift doesn’t say there isn’t a grander narrative taking place, just rather challenges us to not see ourselves as the central player in it. It still means that our actions matter - or to lean further into the forest analogy to state that each tree, shrub, and lifeform still plays a vital role in the ecology of the forest and it’s thriving.

Making this little shift in perspective could offer a freedom from the weight we might be carrying when we find ourselves in the muck of life. This slight shift could allow us to move our focus from seeking some grandioso story to embody (and the disappointment when it is not found), to the daily or hourly little moments of intention that over time can change the path we and others might be on.

When we are able to do this consistently, we able see how the 3 season arcs and inspirational stories of our hero’s were made up of millions of little intentional moments and that’s what makes them powerful.

It could be as simple as planning a walk in the middle of your day; or setting aside time to write or read instead of watching TV; or removing distractions to connect loved ones better at the end of the day. These little moments of intention can have powerful moments of impact down the road.

So the question for us today is, what do you want to be intentional about?

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For further reflection:

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller