“ Watch your thoughts , for they become words . Choose your words , for they become actions . Understand your actions , for they become habits . Study your habits , for they will become your character . Develop your character , for it becomes your destiny .”
— ANONYMOUS
WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH manifest our dreams and harness the power of positive affirmations to improve our lives ? Isn ’ t that what we all want ? A chance to make each day a bit better and hopefully leave a legacy of worth when we are gone . Beyond these modest impulses , perhaps some may rise to even grander heights of sharing and creative manifestation .
For four decades I have used spoken word affirmations and guided meditations to bring groups together in a shared communion of visualization and prayer . With my husband , Dean Evenson , playing flute , along with me on harp , we have been able to create deeply meditative experiences for large groups of people , opening for Deepak Chopra , Don Miguel Ruiz , Larry Dossey , Denise Linn , and playing for Joan Borysenko and Iyanla Vanzant ’ s own meditations . These experiences led us to investigate further the power of affirmations and how we can utilize them to create a life worth living .
Why do affirmations work ? What is it that makes them so compelling ?
An affirmation is a positive statement asserting that the goal to be achieved is already happening . It is a declaration to manifest a desired outcome . This desired way of being may seem far from the truth at the moment , but amazingly enough , with repetition and focused intention , it can become reality . Since the subconscious mind processes affirmations and suggestions as reality , it is important be aware of one ’ s thoughts and constantly edit out unwanted negative suggestions .
The fact is , we are constantly affirming in our mind what we believe . When we look honestly at the content of our thoughts , we may be shocked to discover that we have been telling ourselves a ‘ load of crock ’ as they say . We can usually tell the quality of our subconscious mind by looking at the quality of the life we are living . If we are not pleased with our life , we might consider looking at the content of our mind to discover how we have been programming our existence to meet our belief structure .
In the 1950s , Earl Nightingale , cofounder of Nightingale-Conant self-development company , recorded a classic motivational record called ‘ The Strangest Secret .’ He recognized the ‘ strangest secret ’ to be we
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