The Power of Intention

This blog is by Ruth Mumba, who started volunteering for Abundance and experienced many miracles of her wishes coming true which she attributes to the power of will or intention. 

THE POWER OF INTENTION
The year 2015 was by far the most unproductive year of my life. My job seemed to hit a dead end and due to inefficiency of processing my work documents, I was removed from the payroll. So I had to work for two months with no pay! Those two months I struggled to pay rent, feed myself, buy airtime for my phone and basically just survive. After much follow-up with the Human Resources Department,  I was put back onto the pay role and my cheque couldn’t come any sooner.
After that ordeal and many other mishaps that year, I drowned myself in articles and blogs that were focused on well-being and positivity. I was tired of feeling worthless and unsatisfied. Going on social media just made things worse. My peers were being recognized for their activism. They had amazing social lives as seen from their Instagram posts. They were going for further studies. I felt jealous. Then something hit me. If my friends were achieving all those goals, why not me?
After talking things over with my late friend Chimwemwe and Amanda on two separate occasions, they each shared with me audio files that talked about life, goals, success and God. I was obsessed with them. I listened to them every day. The point I took from the audio files was that you become what you think about and that in order to be a success one must clearly define what they want to do with their lives and progressively act towards those goals. 
So as the year was coming to an end, I told myself that 2016 I would be different. I took my notebook and listed down all the things I wanted for 2016 and prayed over it.  
My list
1.    Start volunteering
2.    Travel to not less than 2 countries this year including South Africa. I really want to go to South Africa.
3.    Make lots of money. I wouldn’t mind having a couple of millions. lol
4.    Master ARCGis and other GIS software
5.    Write an abstract
6.    Apply for higher education courses
7.    Buy a car…….
And so it went. I also told myself that I would add any other thing I wanted to achieve as the year went by.
Fast forward to end 2016 and I am amazed at what a little prayer, setting goals and the power of will has done for me. I work for the the Government and any Malawian will know that I am not swimming in money but I developed a tough skin all those months I wasn’t getting paid. I developed a saving spirit that surprises me sometimes. I’m okay to pass up on a lot of things that fall outside my set plans. Don’t get me wrong, I do spoil myself and others when I can but it’s after I save.
I began volunteering at Abundance Worldwide. It’s a feeling you cannot compare to anything else. Giving your time and resources to impact some one’s life is a gift I do not take for granted.
My attitude towards work also changed. Every day is a day to work that extra harder to achieve my goal. Every day I am grateful for my job as a geologist. It was my preferred career path and I realized not everybody who is working, first set out to do that particular job. Also when I look at the level of unemployment, I count myself lucky to have found employment a few months after completing my studies. 
I did travel to not two but THREE countries! Rwanda, South Africa and Ethiopia! 
In March 2016, I was sent to Rwanda to represent Malawi at a Geothermal Technical workshop. It was such a wonderful trip. I stayed in Kigali and it is hard to believe that the country was once torn apart by civil war. They have rebuild and are still building and Kigali is one of the most clean and green cities in the world. 
Also, few weeks after expressing my desire to visit South Africa to the Deepa, the Founder of abundance, I was pleasantly surprised by being sent on another assignment by my office to attend a Geosciences conference in Cape town, South Africa! In my spare time, I toured the city. Taking the red bus and dropping off at the Table Mountain, then at the sea front. That was the first time I ever saw the ocean! I just stood there with an open mouth. The waves were so big. I walked along the white sands, stepped in the water and walked away knowing that God is really big and amazing. Cape town amazed me and If I ever relocate to South Africa I would be happy to live there.
I also wrote my first abstract towards the 6th ARGeo Conference which is a platform where Geothermal energy issues are discussed and I submitted it. It was not accepted but just having that feeling that I put my idea on a paper and submitted it to experts in a scientific field was enough. It gave me the confidence to know that I can write more and some will be accepted and some will not, but that’s okay. However, a few weeks before the conference was to take place, my office was invited to attend the conference and I was recommended to be part of the delegates. I found myself on a long flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. During my flight, I realized that this was the third country I was visiting in 2016! 
Through my job, I have gone on external travel trips where I have met brilliant professionals who are constantly sending a word of encouragement or materials to study and develop myself. I have also been given the opportunity to fulfill my travel dreams. My dreams were coming true. In a small voice, I told myself that in 2017 I would go to Europe! 
I am now looking forward to 2017 with the same hope, faith and trust. The things I haven’t been able to achieve this year will definitely come to pass because with a little effort on my part and Gods push everything is possible.