Affirmations. This is one of those topics that really stirs things up for me.
We've been taught to use affirmations as a special magical tool to get whatever we want out of life and if you've ever watched the movie or read the book 'The Secret' you'll know just what I'm talking about.
The truth is affirmations aren't something we use only when we 'want' something. Though we do tend to make up 'special' affirmations when we are feeling in need of something. We are actually using affirmations all of the time during our day. Whether we are thinking about how we look in an outfit or verbalizing how we are feeling at any given time we are affirming what our life feels and looks like to us. And those affirmations bring about more of the same since those affirmations are actually more powerful than the ones you are 'forcing' yourself to repeat.
Every time you hold a thought in your mind you are affirming something. So all of those unconscious thoughts that swirl around inside your head all day are actually producing/manifesting/creating your reality. Eeek!
I've been thinking a lot about affirmations lately since I 'tried' to use a few while dealing with a recent job opportunity. My outside voice affirmations were saying things like 'this is going to be a great opportunity to meet new people and have a new experience' and 'this is going to be life enhancing'. But my inside voice affirmations were saying something like 'oh I really would rather work from home and be my own boss' and 'I really don't like having someone else tell me where I will be spending my time'.
Do you see the misalignment in these affirmations? Guess which affirmations held more power? If you guessed the second set you are SO correct! The truth is that the affirmations that swirl around in our mind have lots of power, mostly because we are unaware of the way they make us feel and that they are making us feel really deep emotions most of the time. Plus, these inside voice affirmations have been playing over and over again in our minds for years and years. Lots of power being stored there!
If we are being honest with ourselves most of the affirmations we make up for ourselves are born out of fear. We see that our life isn't going the way we would like and we want to make a change so we go for the affirmations like flies on a dung pile. We make up affirmations and we chant them and sing them to ourselves and we put on a happy smile and life is good. But then nothing happens. A couple of days later you find yourself a little worn out and a little more than disappointed that this 'affirmation thing' didn't work.
We are an impatient bunch aren't we? Worse than being impatient is that we are totally disillusioned as to where our focus really needs to be. Yes you can use affirmations to create positive change in your life. Of course. But in my opinion that is only going to happen if you can look at what you already have and be grateful.
I have learned that the key point in making affirmations work is feeling at peace with where things are at in this moment. Looking around you and saying 'you know, this is all pretty spectacular. I am pretty spectacular. You know what would make it all much more fun? Some money, or some weight loss or some love from a significant other'.
When my husband and I talk about our future we say things like 'Won't it be nice when....' or 'Wouldn't it be great if....'. We do this naturally, don't ask me how we came onto it but when we start talking like this I get a little bubble of excitement inside of me because I know that we've done it before; we've teamed up to create some wonderful things in our life and all because we are already loving what we have and dreaming of something that would add a little more 'fun' to it all.
So next time you find yourself 'lacking' and in need of an affirmation take some time and write a list of gratitudes and sink in to how that feels to you. Then you can add a list of things that would make your experience a little more 'fun' like the car, the money, the world peace. Whatever you like. Just begin your affirmation with gratitude and then watch the real magic happen :)
We've been taught to use affirmations as a special magical tool to get whatever we want out of life and if you've ever watched the movie or read the book 'The Secret' you'll know just what I'm talking about.
The truth is affirmations aren't something we use only when we 'want' something. Though we do tend to make up 'special' affirmations when we are feeling in need of something. We are actually using affirmations all of the time during our day. Whether we are thinking about how we look in an outfit or verbalizing how we are feeling at any given time we are affirming what our life feels and looks like to us. And those affirmations bring about more of the same since those affirmations are actually more powerful than the ones you are 'forcing' yourself to repeat.
Every time you hold a thought in your mind you are affirming something. So all of those unconscious thoughts that swirl around inside your head all day are actually producing/manifesting/creating your reality. Eeek!
I've been thinking a lot about affirmations lately since I 'tried' to use a few while dealing with a recent job opportunity. My outside voice affirmations were saying things like 'this is going to be a great opportunity to meet new people and have a new experience' and 'this is going to be life enhancing'. But my inside voice affirmations were saying something like 'oh I really would rather work from home and be my own boss' and 'I really don't like having someone else tell me where I will be spending my time'.
Do you see the misalignment in these affirmations? Guess which affirmations held more power? If you guessed the second set you are SO correct! The truth is that the affirmations that swirl around in our mind have lots of power, mostly because we are unaware of the way they make us feel and that they are making us feel really deep emotions most of the time. Plus, these inside voice affirmations have been playing over and over again in our minds for years and years. Lots of power being stored there!
If we are being honest with ourselves most of the affirmations we make up for ourselves are born out of fear. We see that our life isn't going the way we would like and we want to make a change so we go for the affirmations like flies on a dung pile. We make up affirmations and we chant them and sing them to ourselves and we put on a happy smile and life is good. But then nothing happens. A couple of days later you find yourself a little worn out and a little more than disappointed that this 'affirmation thing' didn't work.
We are an impatient bunch aren't we? Worse than being impatient is that we are totally disillusioned as to where our focus really needs to be. Yes you can use affirmations to create positive change in your life. Of course. But in my opinion that is only going to happen if you can look at what you already have and be grateful.
I have learned that the key point in making affirmations work is feeling at peace with where things are at in this moment. Looking around you and saying 'you know, this is all pretty spectacular. I am pretty spectacular. You know what would make it all much more fun? Some money, or some weight loss or some love from a significant other'.
When my husband and I talk about our future we say things like 'Won't it be nice when....' or 'Wouldn't it be great if....'. We do this naturally, don't ask me how we came onto it but when we start talking like this I get a little bubble of excitement inside of me because I know that we've done it before; we've teamed up to create some wonderful things in our life and all because we are already loving what we have and dreaming of something that would add a little more 'fun' to it all.
So next time you find yourself 'lacking' and in need of an affirmation take some time and write a list of gratitudes and sink in to how that feels to you. Then you can add a list of things that would make your experience a little more 'fun' like the car, the money, the world peace. Whatever you like. Just begin your affirmation with gratitude and then watch the real magic happen :)
Lovely Jenn! So true that gratitude for what's around now being the catalyst for more beautiful things to enter. xo
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