INSPECT YOUR THOUGHTS☼ REJECT THE THOUGHTS YOU NO LONGER WANT☼, SELECT AFFIRMING THOUGHTS AND BELIEFS☼,PROJECT NEW THOUGHTS☼, EXPECT POSITIVE RESULTS☼, ACCEPT THE VICTORIES☼
- POWER YOUR LIFE WITH AFFIRMATIONS BY Leonard Szymczak MSW, LCSW
- • INSPECT YOUR THOUGHTS To gain control over your thoughts, you must first hear what you’re saying to yourself. If you tend to be critical of others, you most likely will do the same internally. Keeping a journal will help you identify themes and patterns that continually play in your mind. Pay particular attention to messages that are self-defeating. They may be about money (I never have enough), about relationships (I can never trust anyone) or about jobs (No one appreciates what I do). Adopting an accepting, nonjudgmental attitude will help you recognize any downloaded critical messages. Identifying them undermines their power. As John Roger and Peter McWilliam’s wrote in their book, You Can’t Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought, “Noticing these signals is not negative thinking. Doing something corrective about them is positive action.”
- • REJECT THE THOUGHTS YOU NO LONGER WANT Mark Twain once said, “I am an old man who has had many worries, most of which have never happened to me.” He obviously had to combat his own worrisome tapes. Since toxic critical thoughts corrode self-esteem every time they are replayed, it is important to reject debilitating messages whether they be loud and bombastic or quiet yet lethal. It is easier to eliminate these thoughts by focusing on your goal. Rather than saying, “I want to give up negative thinking,” tell yourself, “I now enjoy the positive aspects of my life.” If your negative soundtrack becomes overwhelming, visualize yourself mentally pushing the stop button on the tape recorder and silencing the messages.
- • SELECT AFFIRMING THOUGHTS AND BELIEFS Decide, as if you were choosing music, which thoughts or beliefs you want to play. New affirmations could convey motivation;“I am highly successful.” They could relate to your financial future, “I am becoming prosperous and wealthy.” They could refer to your health; “I exercise regularly and eat nutritious food.” Select the tapes that best convey how you want to think, feel, look, and act. One of the earliest popular affirmations was developed in the 1920’s by a Frenchman, Emile Coué, “Everyday in every way I am getting better and better.” When you frame your affirmations, remember to state them clearly as a positive in the present tense (“I am” rather than “I will”). You can now build a tape library that you can draw from, particularly when you need uplifting.
- • PROJECT NEW THOUGHTS . Mae West once said, “Speak up for yourself, or you’ll end up a rug.” Reinforce your new tapes by affirming them in your mind, visualizing the thoughts being accomplished and acting in ways that affirm them. If an affirmation such as “I am healthy” feels false, change it so that it seems more possible, “Every day I am becoming healthier.” Reinforce positive self-talk with consistency and repetition. Saying affirmations once is not enough. Repeating them throughout the day, even when you don’t feel like it, will establish a habit with an impact.
- • EXPECT POSITIVE RESULTS There is a greater likelihood that positive events will occur if you expect them to occur. Expect the negative and the negative will surely come. This concept was labeled the Pygmalion effect and was demonstrated in numerous studies. If teachers were told that a group of students were gifted, and in fact they were not, the teachers treated them as if they were special and amazingly, the students performed much better in tests. Therefore, put your energy into expecting positive outcomes from your new affirming thoughts.
- • ACCEPT THE VICTORIES . As you replay your cassettes, look for the differences in your thoughts, feelings and beliefs. You may notice that you feel better and more motivated. Big victories consist of many smaller ones. Unless you accept small victories, you’ll never achieve anything great. These victories become stepping stones toward your continuing success. Marcus Aurelius once said, “Our life is what our thoughts make it.” Drawing upon a library of positive self-affirming tapes will create a deep and lasting impact on your life.
The heart and brain However, following several years of research, it was observed that, the heart communicates with the brain in ways that significantly affect how we perceive and react to the world. It was found that, the heart seemed to have its own peculiar logic that frequently diverged from the direction of the autonomic nervous system. The heart appeared to be sending meaningful messages to the brain that it not only understood, but also obeyed (Lacey and Lacey, 1978). Later, neurophysiologists discovered a neural pathway and mechanism whereby input from the heart to the brain could inhibit or facilitate the brain’s electrical activity (McCraty, 2002)from article The Heart, Mind and Spirit by Professor Mohamed Omar Salem
If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing. Marc Chagall
I ask and listen from the level of the heart.
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Drawing from my hearts continues to work for me!
★★Kindness To Others -No Matter What- 2019/selfcare
I AM
Peaceful:
Emotions,
Sensations ,
& Feelings
