Affirmations are simply any positive or negative statements that we make, as we go through life. They can be natural, automatic statements or statements made on purpose.
Does this include all words and statements that we make during our lifetime? Yes and No.
Statements related to some aspect of the past, present or future are considered as affirmations. The other utterances, which we shall call as 'miscellaneous statements', need not be so considered.
For example. 'Let's go for a walk', 'How are you?', 'I may be late for dinner tonight' are 'miscellaneous statements'. Examples of affirmations are given below.
Consider the following statements:
Now consider the following statements:
These are statements of intent. Through these statements we express our desire of how we want our life to be. These are also affirmations.
We are going to concentrate on the second type of affirmations, that is the statements that spell out our desired future - affirmations that can change our life for the better. The wonderful thing about these affirmations is that the more we use them, the more our life starts resembling them.
The principal behind the working of these affirmations is similar to that of drops of water falling on a rock. A few drops will not make any difference to the rock but if the drops fall continuously, then, over a period of time, the rock will be worn out.
![]()
“We cannot solve a problem with the same mentality that created it.”
Every person has a set of different thoughts that occupies his mind on a regular basis. Our thoughts are determined by our social milieu, our family upbringing, our education, our experiences in life and a variety of other factors.
A person leading an average life will have a different set of thoughts than a person successful in some field. If the average person wants to be successful, he has to think like the successful person.
If a poor person wants to be rich and prosperous, he has to think like a rich and prosperous person.
How does one change one’s life by changing one’s thoughts?
There are many answers to this question. When we are in a certain situation, we think in a certain way. As a result, certain neural pathways are formed in the brain. Later, when we find ourselves in a similar situation, because of the already formed neural pathways, we think similar thoughts and that results in the same old actions. Hence, nothing new comes out of the situation.
When we deliberately change our thoughts over a period of time, new neural pathways are formed to correspond to these new thoughts. Thus, when a particular situation arises, the brain does not automatically think the old thoughts. Rather, a new thought is produced in response to the same old situation. New actions are now explored. A new and different outcome is now a distinct possibility.
Another way of looking at it is this way. The subconscious mind cannot differentiate between real and imaginary situations. If we feed the subconscious mind with imaginary situations depicting our desired reality, then after some time the subconscious mind starts believing it. When the belief becomes strong enough, it tries to match the new inner scenario with the outer reality of life. As these two are different, and as it cannot change the new inner scenario because we are strengthening it daily by affirmations or visualization or in some other way, it now tries to change the outer reality to match the inner one. We thus start having new experiences, meeting new people, spotting new opportunities which we earlier used to miss and so on. Slowly, life starts changing for the better.
Whatever be the explanation, it is a fact that a change in thinking changes life. And a change in thinking can be easily brought about by using affirmations.
Thus, if we make positive statements and repeat them over and over, they are going to affect our life positively. Similarly, negative statements will affect our life negatively.
Statements related to some aspect of the past, present or future are considered as affirmations. The other utterances, which we shall call as 'miscellaneous statements', need not be so considered.
For example. 'Let's go for a walk', 'How are you?', 'I may be late for dinner tonight' are 'miscellaneous statements'. Examples of affirmations are given below.
Consider the following statements:
- Oh, what a beautiful morning!
- What a gorgeous car!
- All new movies are boring.
- There is always a traffic jam in the morning.
Now consider the following statements:
- Every Day in Every Way I am getting Better and Better.
- I am losing weight every day without effort till I reach my ideal weight of 60 kilos.
- I am a money magnet and money flows into my life effortlessly.
- I am healthy and strong. I live life to the fullest.
These are statements of intent. Through these statements we express our desire of how we want our life to be. These are also affirmations.
We are going to concentrate on the second type of affirmations, that is the statements that spell out our desired future - affirmations that can change our life for the better. The wonderful thing about these affirmations is that the more we use them, the more our life starts resembling them.
The principal behind the working of these affirmations is similar to that of drops of water falling on a rock. A few drops will not make any difference to the rock but if the drops fall continuously, then, over a period of time, the rock will be worn out.
“We cannot solve a problem with the same mentality that created it.”
~ Albert Einstein
This quote succinctly explains the working of affirmations. If we want to change our life for the better, we have to hold different type of thoughts in our mind, different than the ones that normally occupy our mind.Every person has a set of different thoughts that occupies his mind on a regular basis. Our thoughts are determined by our social milieu, our family upbringing, our education, our experiences in life and a variety of other factors.
A person leading an average life will have a different set of thoughts than a person successful in some field. If the average person wants to be successful, he has to think like the successful person.
If a poor person wants to be rich and prosperous, he has to think like a rich and prosperous person.
Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life
How does one change one’s life by changing one’s thoughts?
There are many answers to this question. When we are in a certain situation, we think in a certain way. As a result, certain neural pathways are formed in the brain. Later, when we find ourselves in a similar situation, because of the already formed neural pathways, we think similar thoughts and that results in the same old actions. Hence, nothing new comes out of the situation.
When we deliberately change our thoughts over a period of time, new neural pathways are formed to correspond to these new thoughts. Thus, when a particular situation arises, the brain does not automatically think the old thoughts. Rather, a new thought is produced in response to the same old situation. New actions are now explored. A new and different outcome is now a distinct possibility.
Another way of looking at it is this way. The subconscious mind cannot differentiate between real and imaginary situations. If we feed the subconscious mind with imaginary situations depicting our desired reality, then after some time the subconscious mind starts believing it. When the belief becomes strong enough, it tries to match the new inner scenario with the outer reality of life. As these two are different, and as it cannot change the new inner scenario because we are strengthening it daily by affirmations or visualization or in some other way, it now tries to change the outer reality to match the inner one. We thus start having new experiences, meeting new people, spotting new opportunities which we earlier used to miss and so on. Slowly, life starts changing for the better.
Whatever be the explanation, it is a fact that a change in thinking changes life. And a change in thinking can be easily brought about by using affirmations.
Thus, if we make positive statements and repeat them over and over, they are going to affect our life positively. Similarly, negative statements will affect our life negatively.
No comments:
Post a Comment