Positive What's?

Affirmations.
I know your picturing 'the Secret', and maybe in a way that is it. I did not learn about positive affirmation's this way.


The way I was introduced to the power of positive affirmations was in 2006, when a young woman named Kirstin agreed to come speak to a small group of women who were gathering for a 'Summer Social' for our church. 
She would be speaking on 'The power within', or so the little orange flyer delivered to my front door touted, along with a luncheon.


I'm pretty social, and I like food, so I thought I'd go.


Kirstin began by asking for a volunteer from the audience, to come up and help her for just a moment, Teressa was chosen. Kirstin first had her put her hands facing up with her arms out stretched, next she asked her to hold them firm while she pushed down, not much give. Next, she asked Teressa to say out loud something she was not good at, one time. Once it was said, Kirstin again pushed down on Teressa's up lifted hands, this time there was no strength, zip, zilch, nada, and her arms quickly dropped.
Kirstin then explained that each time, we hear, or repeat, something negative it takes twenty times of hearing the opposite to come back to ground zero, as it were. So she took the negative comment, 'I'm not very good on the computer.' and reversed it to a positive, 'I am, very good on the computer.' Teressa repeated it twenty times and this time, when Kirstin pushed on her up turned hands, the hold was stronger than even the first time.


OK, she had my attention.


During the presentation it was pointed out that we often repeat negative things we have heard, seen or been told, throughout our life, adding in new ones as they come, in all their various forms, often without our even knowing about them, and add them to 'the loop' of our self talk.


Face it, we really do talk to ourselves more than anyone else, we are after all, are with us all the time.


That doesn't even begin to touch the things that come to us through the media! It takes milliseconds for negative information to reach a person's mind when they look at a picture in a magazine and start beating themselves up.

Oh yeah, it's all added to the loop of self talk, zinging us when ever it can!


She encouraged us to take the things we tell ourselves, that are negative, and write them down if we can, then to write the positive and opposite. She also encouraged us to begin our affirmation's with 'I am', instead of 'I'm', as much as humanly possible, because there is much more power in those words than you realize. Also, to make it as present as possible.


For instance,'I'm not really very good on the computer.' would become, 'I'm becoming very good on the computer.', but most effective if said, 'I am, very good on the computer.'


The more we hear that, we are, me, right now, not tomorrow, or later, but right now, good at the computer, my brain will take that information and help make it into a reality as fast as it can.


One very important thing you need to know about positive affirmation's is that they are only good for you. Not for someone else. For instance, 'I am helping my daughter, she is very good on the computer'. Not a happenin thing, sorry. 


Armed with this new information I headed home, rounded up a notebook and began keeping track, over the next couple of day's, of the negative things I told myself.


I was shocked!


I next sat down to reverse them to positive, and putting them in present context. Then I wrote those down in one of those little mini, composition notebook's I like so much, and began repeating them, frequently throughout the day...


I have replaced new Year's resolution's with affirmation's. Updating during the year as needed, I also never reevaluate my list until after the new year, I like to do it best in the summer... but that's just me :)

  




p.s. If I can help you find more information, or help with the writing of some of your affirmations to help get you started,  I would be happy to help. Drop me a line at missysplaceover@gmail.com