I had a lot of cynical affirmations going on all the time in my head earlier so I didn’t see much use for affirmations at all. I think a lot of people are like I was, in that we often seem to doubt so many things in life. The magic seems to come to an end somewhere in childhood when we learn that our parents are not the ideals we held them to be when we were just babies. Soon after that the list of those who we do not doubt starts to really shrink until finally we become total cynics. We have learned that we are to be doubted somewhere in this period too. That saves us from jumping off buildings and touching things that are burning, of course, because we have learned how vulnerable we are in spite of the fact that we enjoy imagining a character like Superman who only has one weakness. We and everybody else seem to have so many.
The reason I say these thoughts and internal dialogues are affirmations are because everything we say or think is an affirmation as I now understand. I have Louise Hay to thank for helping me to understand about that. Before I learned about that from her I was a tense person who had a lot of trouble sleeping or even relaxing. With affirmations in conjunction with a little Neuro-linguistic Programming and some Ho ‘oponoopono I now enjoy a good night’s sleep and am able to nap and otherwise relax whenever I want.
Rest is important of course, so we must get enough of it to keep our bodies healthy and our minds clear. But what I now realize is that we also need something to believe in again to relieve us from the burden of all this cynicism. I’m not saying that flaws are not real nor am I saying that they should be ignored - they just don’t need to be our focus in life. What we need is “that thing with feathers” the hope that Emily Dickenson so famously refers to with that line so frequently quoted. If I tell myself that we are all flawed it is like saying there is no hope. If I tell myself that “Life is for me” as Louise Hay and others say, then I can look forward to the next moment without any trace of cynical dread.
The implication is that, as I mentioned earlier, I relish a good night’s sleep and the pleasure of waking up refreshed in the morning ready for the day. You have all heard that saying about the condemned man eating a hearty meal. The reason why people say that is because it would be so surprising. If I were about to be executed, I’m not sure I would have much of an appetite and that is precisely the point. If we keep telling ourselves that there is no hope to be found in the moments ahead our appetite, our sleep, and our health finally are the victims of all this condemnation.
Fortunately thoughts that give us no hope are only one kind of thinking. All thoughts are affirmations and we can also affirm hopeful things as an alternative. When I begin to practice doing so, I not only slept better but all things, including my health became better.
I encourage you to begin your process of positive affirmations, if you haven’t started already and, no matter where you are on this process, I wish you all the best – the possibilities not the negativities are now guiding you into a brighter future.
