Affirmations have gotten a bit of a bad rap. Some of that is well deserved, some not so much. The idea of using affirmations to put a happy face on everything, see only the sunny side of life, or walk around with a plastic smile, is going to get a lot of us nauseous.
Still, if we broaden the definition of what affirmations are maybe it can be easier to stomach. When considering that we are actually constantly using affirmations with what we think and say, we might want to take a pause and look at these affirmation things.
According to author Louise Hay, whatever you affirm as the truth about your life becomes your reality. You may be affirming something like, “I never have enough money” or, “I love money it comes to me so easily.” Either one can be considered an affirmation of your relationship with money that will then get out pictured as your life experience with the amount of cash flowing your way. The argument usually goes, “But I really don’t ever have enough money, am I supposed to lie about it?”—umm, yeah, kind of.
If “I love money” is too big of a stretch for you, maybe your new affirmation could be, “I’ve always had enough money to pay for what I need. I am up for the challenges I’ve had with prosperity and am now welcoming an abundance of money into my life.” This can help you practice a more gentle affirmation that stretches past the deep doubt you carry. When you get good with this gentle stretch and more money does start flowing, then try a more simple, direct affirmation like, “Money flows to me easily and effortlessly.”
“Am I supposed to use affirmations for everything?”—your mind might argue again. Remember, you already are using affirmations for everything. It’s just that most of the affirmations you use are probably negative: “I’ll never get what I want”, “Other people are special, that’s why they get what they want—like Oprah, look at Oprah. I’m nothing like Oprah!”, “Nobody loves me”, “No one in my family has money”, “I’m trapped in this marriage, job, house, etc.”, and the ever popular, “I’m not good enough.” Any of these sound familiar? They may be your affirmations!
Choose affirmations that serve your highest good and all those around you. Then phrase them in the positive, not the negative. It isn't helpful to use a negative affirmation such as, "I'm no longer poor. I give up poverty." Giving up being poor is not the same as becoming abundant. State the same affirmation in the positive, such as: "All my needs are met. Money flows to me easily."
To back up a bit, we do sometimes need time to cry, scream, be angry, mourn, and even get depressed in the face of loss, tragedy, and heart break. It’s just that there is a big difference between affirming, “I feel heart broken, but I know I’ll be ok” and, “I can’t go on without her, I might as well kill myself.” These two “affirmations” can lead to drastically different results.
Let’s talk about the subconscious and the conscious minds. If these two minds are divergent in their beliefs, you got a problem. That is, if your subconscious believes you’ll never have enough money, but you consciously want money, the subconscious, which is bigger and stronger, will win out. We want to get the conscious mind and subconscious mind to work together and converge on the same goal. Affirmations help us with this convergence. They help us interrupt the subconscious mind’s negative self-talk that is continually creating negative outcomes.
Maybe we can start stretching, start affirming a little more hope, a little more courage, and a little more love to ourselves. Maybe we can eventually get comfortable with affirmations like: “Marriage is for me. Love comes to me easily." “My body is getting stronger every day.” “My new job is providing so much prosperity for me. I can feel it.” “I love driving my new car.”
Affirmations are most powerfully understood when we feel the corresponding emotions. Try feeling what is in your heart when you repeat out loud three times the words, “Life is hopeless. I’ll never get what I want.” Now try, “Life is on my side. It is always supporting my best outcome. I can trust life.” Those feelings in your heart are the building blocks of your life experience.
What are you affirming? If you want to see the beliefs you carry, just look at your life circumstances—they tell the story of what you are affirming in habitual thinking.
This week we honor the recently deceased Louise Hay, of Hay House Publishing. Miss Hay was a leader in the mental health field and an author on the power of affirmations.
Take a listen: