The power of your words

           

    Through our words and the thoughts behind them, we are continually giving our bodies operating instructions. By being observant, we can become aware of this process.

           As we have seen, everything, before it is created on the physical plane, is at first a spiritual impulse, then a thought, then a feeling. Before we can build a house, there must be a blueprint for it, a design, an idea. Words are creative ideas spoken, made manifest into the world.

Vedanta (Hinduism) explains this process as VASANAS

      VASANAS are subtle impressions which the individual soul will carry with when the soul separates itself from the physical body upon the death of a person. To understand this term VASANA, first think of ice, which is gross. It is solid and it can be touched or felt and can be cut into different shapes. Water is subtler than ice. Water cannot be cut into shape, although it will assume the shape of its container. Water is liquid and not solid like ice. Steam is subtler than water. We cannot hold steam in our hand as we can hold water. Steam is visible for a while and then it becomes invisible. Humidity in the air is subtler than steam. The presence of humidity in the air cannot be seen .The vasanas are like the humidity in the air, subtlest of all. The vasanas undergo transformation at the level of the intellect into thoughts. The thoughts in turn undergo transformation at the level of the mind into desires; and the desires undergo transformation at the level of the physical body into actions.

How to Do Affirmations

         Every thought and every word – positive or negative – is an affirmation, and is creating the reality of the affirmation. The simplest way to do affirmation consciously is just to say them to yourself, either out loud or silently, whenever you feel like it. Especially say them to counteract any negative thoughts or words you find yourself thinking or saying. This is not a tool for repression – allow yourself to have any thoughts and feelings you have – don’t reject them – and yet, give yourself the time and energy to affirm a more desirable reality after you have experienced and explored your so-called ‘negative’ feelings.

        For example, if you find yourself thinking, ‘This job is making me sick,’ look at what you are thinking, and see if that’s something you really want to create for yourself. If it isn’t, affirm to yourself, out loud or silently, and with emotion, ‘I am strong and healthy, when I do my work,’ or ‘I am eternally strong, healthy, and young,’ or something which feels good to you. Say it repeatedly, if necessary, and say it with emotion, until it feels like it has sunk in. By just becoming more aware of what you are saying and what you are thinking, you will find that you have plenty of material to deal with. Notice the things that aren’t working in your life, and find affirmations to correct the situations.

     Of course, your feelings about your job may be a very valid reason for you to find another, healthier job. But if you choose for the present to remain in the same situation, create the most positive thoughts you can about it.

      Make the affirmations in the present tense – even if it seems unrealistic. Don’t affirm, ‘I am going to create abundance in my life,’ because the results will always be waiting to happen in the future. Instead, suspend your current beliefs for a moment, and affirm, ‘I now have abundance in my life!’ – and you’ll soon find that it is true. How soon your abundance will come depends on how strongly your affirmation is repeated, and whether or not you are affirming the opposite on deeper levels of your consciousness (your subconscious negative beliefs).

       Many people are unconscious of this – and they are so often saying things like, ‘This is really making me sick,’ or ‘This job is killing me,’ or ‘He is a pain in the neck,’ or ‘This is driving me crazy,’ or ‘I can’t do it.’ These words are affirmations, just like any other words. No wonder these people are getting sick, dying too young at jobs they hate, getting headaches, going crazy, and failing in life.

     Look at your life – clearly and honestly. You will see what you have been affirming to yourself. Most of us have created a lot of things that we would prefer to do without. It is time to affirm, to create something better for yourself.

    We have been giving ourselves affirmations all our lives. And others have been giving us affirmations all our lives. The only problem has been that we have not been consciously aware of the process and power of affirmations, and so we have affirmed a lot of things, which we could do better without.

       Anything you say or think to yourself is an affirmation. Anything anyone else says to you is an affirmation, if you accept it. Our subconscious minds accept it all – whether for better or worse. Many of us grew up in environments, which may not have been totally supportive. Most of us had parents, families, friends, and other peers who may have given us a lot of terrible affirmations, which were destructive to out self-image. Children often tell each other that they are stupid or ugly or unable to do something. Brothers or sisters often say unflattering things to each other. These are unfortunate, negative affirmations.

      Most people are still carrying with them, in their basic core beliefs, the non-supportive things, which their parents, teachers, friends, and families told them when they were so young that they didn’t have the awareness to question or ignore. And these affirmations have an especially powerful effect when there is a strong emotion behind them- those moments when Mommy is deeply upset, and yells: “You never do anything for me!” give the child a deep affirmation of his or her own selfishness and worthlessness.

    It’s no wonder that people have affirmed themselves into neurosis, poverty, selfishness, unattractiveness, sickness, weak and limited self-images, etc. Fortunately, affirmations are so powerful that a few minutes of conscious, deep, positive ones repeated daily for a few weeks could do years of unconscious, deep, negative ones. This is especially true because the positive affirmations have the greatest power in the universe behind them: the power of truth. Because the truth is that you are a free being. You are not limited or restricted. And your life is worthwhile. And you are good person –not a bad one. And you are really loving – even though that love may be buried under years of unexpressed anger and guilt and frustration.

Therefore, we emphasize again:

      Affirm what you know to be true in your heart, and you will create that reality. Affirm that you are free, and strong, and attractive, and prosperous, and loving – and you will find, often in a remarkably short time, that your outer world will begin to change as a reflection of your changing inner consciousness.