What Are You Affirming?

*One comes to believe whatever one repeats to oneself sufficiently often, whether the statement be true or false. It comes to be a dominating thought in one's mind.*
~Robert Collier


Whether we've called it that or not, you and I have been telling ourselves affirmations all of our lives. That little voice inside that is having a running monologue is confirming everything that we believe--whether it's self-empowering or not.

As a craniosacral and massage therapist, I have had many people complain of stress and tension related issues. I can recall one person who was running in late for her appointment and kept repeating to herself throughout the entire session, *I'm so stressed out; I can't relax.*

Well, guess what, she got her wish. She didn't relax. This person was so focused on her *I can't relax* mantra that she had that as her experience.

How often have we each been so focused on a particular thought or belief that we were unable to see beyond it? How many personal, community and global conflicts have been waged as a result of a gripping onto a particular thought or belief? How much suffering, in each of our lives, has been perpetuated due to a particular thought or belief?

Just as Henry Ford, the inventor of the assembly line and Ford Motor Company, stated, *Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't - you're right.* Our sub-conscious mind will not let us be wrong; it will create opportunities for us to always be right and to experience life from that perspective.

Again, as I've written before, it is NOT to say that we are to blame ourselves or anyone else for our life. For the real question isn't *who is to blame*; instead, the question is *who is responsible for creating our life experience.* Our lives are our responsibilities. We make choices every moment of the day on how we will interprete and respond to each person, life event and opportunity.

So, this leads me back to affirmations.

Many of us have learned to tell ourselves negative, self-defeating or at least non-empowering statements. We must take a close look at what we are telling ourselves and how THAT is similar or different from WHAT WE DESIRE in our life.

As we become more conscious of our spoken and unspoken word, we can take better responsibility of our experiences. Make better informed choices. Live a fuller, more meaningful life.

First, to become more conscious of your thoughts and feelings, practice being more mindful--in all of our life events and moments. In addition, there are some practices that can assist us to become more mindful. Whether it's through traditional sitting or walking meditation, yoga, pilates, tai chi, qi gong, brainwave technology, or prayer. Each of these *tools* can assist us to become better aware of our inner landscape (ourselves).

Second, decide what you want in your life or for your life in each area of your being. In other words, choose how you want to live your life and what you want to experience: physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially, in your career/job, family life, etc.

Third, state your intention or desire in a positive, first person *I*, *My*, or *Me*, present tense. This statement is focused on the desired outcome as though it is already occuring RIGHT NOW in YOUR life (And, so it is).

Then, once you've created your positive affirmation, state it to yourself. One of the things that can be helpful is to stand infront of a mirror looking at yourself saying these positive affirmations. This is a technique that Louise L. Hays has taught and used for many years.

As a side note, Louise L. Hays has written many different books on power of positive affirmations, including *You Can Heal Your Life* which is coming out as a movie. I would strongly encourage you to see it. You can watch the trailer to the movie here:You Can Heal Your Life: The Movie

Your positive affirmations may, in the beginning, sound silly or unreal; however, let me assure you that as you continue to state them you will eventually feel that they are already true.

Let me emphasis this.

The most important aspect of the positive affirmations is that they begin to FEEL true to you. The more true to yourself that the affirmations are, the more you will experience your life as reflections of those affirmations. In other words, once you feel that you've already received the benefits as expressed in your positive affirmations, whether you can visibly/tangibly see those results, you will begin to notice opportunities and create changes that will lead you to fulfilling your stated desires.

As with anything, it all begins with a thought. Once you have the thought and begin to develop the belief that that is already your reality, the feeling will propel you to take action which will lead you to experience your life as you are imagining it.

Sound too good to be true? Try it for yourself.

I look forward to hearing how it's going for you.

Until then,

Peace and Blessings,
Rich