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Have you had a chance to affirm today?
You should. With passion, like you mean it. Over and over again according to experts.
What is affirmation and how might it benefit you?
According to the insightful website successconsciousness.com, “These are positive statements that describe a desired situation, which are often repeated, until they get impressed on the subconscious mind. This process pushes the subconscious mind to take action and to strive to make the positive statement come true.”
Let’s perhaps reaffirm that thought with some additional support. The informative site healing.about.com expresses, “Affirmations are words or phrases which are said over and over to AFFIRM a single thought about yourself or other people.”
The thinking is that this is the way we have formed negative and positive programming through-out our entire life; saying things to ourselves, about oneself, over and over. After thoughts are repeated, they soon become a belief system and then we think these beliefs into our reality.
In many ways it becomes our reality.
In this way we form fears of poverty, health, weight and relationships and the emotions connected with these beliefs can even become our comfort zone, no matter how negative they might be.
In an article to huffingtonpost.com, Dr. Carmen Harra explains, “Affirmations are proven methods of self-improvement because of their ability to rewire our brains. Much like exercise, they raise the level of feel-good hormones and push our brains to form new clusters of “positive thought” neurons (http://www.arlenetaylor.org/brain-care/953-affirmation). In the sequence of thought-speech-action, affirmations play an integral role by breaking patterns of negative thoughts, negative speech, and, in turn, negative actions.”
We love to gather different schools of thought on a subject so let’s listen to Ms. Amy Twin who is a Self-Improvement Coach who has been successfully coaching and guiding clients for many years. Amy recently published a new home study course on how to boost your Self Esteem.
Here is what she has to say regarding the importance of affirmation.
Affirmations can be really helpful to break bad habits if you are persistent about it.
In order for you to really break bad habits you must: a) be aware that the unconscious mind exists and b) learn how to manipulate its existence.
And affirmations are great and powerful techniques in which, if used effectively, could bring out and address directly to your unconscious being.
By uttering simple positive statements of the way you wish to live your life, then reiterating them out loud daily, you teach your unconscious thoughts in order to guide you to a better path to be reflected by your whole senses.
You can use:
1) Situational statements: one of a kind affirmations which provide a definite aim in your life. Some examples are:
a) “My heart and lungs are healthy.”
b) “I am very happy to be earning $120, 000 per year.”
2) Timeless affirmations. These are statements which can be made use at any point in your life.
a) “My body is healthy and strong.”
b) “I am so happy in every aspect of my life”
In speaking these words over and over daily, they penetrate into our subconscious mind till it becomes our reality.
Moreover, the positive language of these “feel-good” affirming sentences blocks off negative thought processes, and in effect, fosters positive attitude.
To fortify this belief, each day, every morning, when you get ready for the day, you can try to spare at least 10 minutes of your time in uttering these affirmations out loud. Simply listen to your own voice as you speak these and try to be detached and unemotional as you can.
And lastly, it is very important that you must try to obstruct any negativity and concentrate 100% of your language and attention to the affirmations that you are saying out loud.
Thank you Amy.
The question I have at this point is affirmation simply applying new paint to an old car and calling it a new car? In some ways I think so.
Do you remember Mr. Norman Vincent Peale? Come on now. Think positive.
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale was born May 31, 1898 and passed December 24, 1993. In between he lived a phenomenal life.
He was a minister and author (most notably of The Power of Positive Thinking) and a progenitor of “positive thinking“. His ideas were not accepted by mental health experts but instead widely accepted where it really counts……by the American public.
Raised as a Methodist and ordained as a Methodist minister in 1922, Mr. Peale changed his religious affiliation to the Reformed Church in America in 1932 and began a 52-year tenure as pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan. During that time the church’s membership grew from 600 to over 5,000, and he became one of New York City’s most famous preachers.
Here are a few quotes that have been attributed to him:
“The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others. Try this for a week and you will be surprised.”
“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.”
“Change your thoughts and you change your world.”
“Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. Make all your friends feel there is something special in them. Look at the sunny side of everything. Think only the best; be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.”
“Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give everyone a smile. Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others. Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.”
“What the mind can conceive and believe, and the heart desire, you can achieve.”
I could go on. I loved Mr. Peale’s book and read it more than once. Therein is the challenge with positive thinking in that you have to keep……….here we go……. “Reaffirming it.”
So those are the challenges, hopes and responsibilities with affirmation.
It seems to work but you have to keep applying it every day, again and again and again…..
~ ~ ~
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/8435.Norman_Vincent_Peale
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/self_improvement_and_motivation/article_9351.shtml
http://www.successconsciousness.com/index_00000a.htm
Remez Sasson is the founder of Success Consciousness. He is the author of articles and books, teaching how to use your mental tools and inner powers to create a life of happiness, success, fulfillment and inner peace.
http://healing.about.com/od/affirmations/a/affirmpower.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-carmen-harra/affirmations_b_3527028.html
http://www.learnmindpower.com/using_mindpower/affirmations/
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Sources: brainyquote.com, Wikipedia, fciwomenswrestling.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com, FCI Elite Competitor, https://femcompetitor.com, photos thank you Wikimedia Commons.
