Affirmations Create Energy for the Positive to Develop

"What you think about expands" -- Alan Cohen

What we think, our attachment to and interpretation of our thoughts yields the end result. Affirmations are positive, personal statements that enhance self-esteem and a healthy attitude. Focusing our attention on an affirmation creates energy for the positive to develop. It also breaks the pattern of fear-based thoughts and self-defeating rumination.

Unfortunately, the recitation of an affirmation does not magically bring forth the desired outcome. The reading of affirmations is one of many tools to assist one's self in the deep exploration of the true self. Affirmations are best used along with conscious awareness, self-honesty, truthful living, love, forgiveness and acceptance of one's self and others.

Many years ago, a dear friend presented me with an affirmation jar. Inside are 1x6" strips of paper in a bright display of primary colors: yellow, blue, green, purple, pink and red. Each strip of paper has a unique affirmation that goes something like:

"I unconditionally nurture myself today"

"Lightheartedness is an integral part of all that I am"

"I trust in the Universal good and release my need to control"

"I am an enthusiastic participant in the process of co-creation"

"I willingly release harbored emotions, forgiving myself and others"

I don't know how many originally came with the jar from my dear friend, but there seem to be hundreds! Many have been added over the years, either by myself or from friends along the way. I like to begin each day by pulling an affirmation from the jar. I'll clip it to my calendar for the day, or place it on my computer monitor if I'm going to be doing a lot of writing. Just as long as it is somewhere that keeps that thought in my mind. Some days, I'll use the affirmation that I pulled as the basis of my journaling, or even my blogging. I try to repeat my affirmation several times to reinforce its strength.

Gratitude for the abundance that is mine and that is to come is always heartfelt, just like the gratitude I shall always have for my dear friend Lois who gave me one more tool to manifest wholeness and inner peace.