Affirmations are the perfect medium for us to affirm our innate goodness of our being. However, words that are spoken and affirmed without faith and belief, are but a collection of empty words with hollow intentions. When I first learned about the power of affirmations, I was all in.
On all accounts, I was enthusiastic, for the wondrous good that awaited me. I tuned-in, read, and took copious notes of practically every inspiring quote that I came across. From instagram quotes, podcasts, and conversations, nothing was off the table.
Pretty soon my journal was filled with so many notes that I was soon forced narrow it down just a few. Poised and ready to welcome in a new experience, I quickly began to read, recite, and affirm them on a daily consistent basis. In fact, I was so consist that I was soon able to recite them by heart. In the weeks to months that followed, I waited patiently for the results come in.
Only what seemed a fairly simplistic process, soon unfurled into the complete opposite of what I imagined. I initally had no preconceived notion for exactly how long it was supposed to take to experience any tangible results. However, my patience soon grew thin as the weeks turned to months, and the months turned into practically a year.
Needless to say that I was befuddled that it did not work. This left me with many questions. Was it me? What did I do wrong? Why does it seem to work so well for everyone else? Is it not meant for me to yield similar results as other? And so on. The questions were endless as I soon found myself in a downward spiral of negative self talk. This was not good. I knew that I had to some how turn it around.
I had many questions as to why my attempts at this process were not working. I was literally perplexed. In an attempt to retrace my steps, I reverse engineered my process to better understand what I was doing wrong. I went back to the drawing board, reading even more posts, and text on the who, what, where, and why, of affirmations. Now that I had what I believed to be a better understanding, I began again. For the next several weeks, I remained just as consistent with the practices as before.
Yet again I found myself at the same cross roads, as feeling of doubt, confusion, and defeat, began to re-emerge. I had no words. I was at a loss. Although I couldn’t quite put my finger on what I was doing wrong, I was now certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that something was amiss. As I began to take a deeper look, I began to investigate whether I needed to go beyond merely reciting the affirmations on a consistent basis. I just knew that I had to be missing a step.
Interestingly, I soon discovered that I was in fact missing the one essential element, that kept me from succeeding, belief. Truth is, I hadn’t truly believed anything that I had previously affirmed in my prior attempts. Superficially I believed that the affirmations I hand selected, matched what I was seeking to invite into my experience.
At the core of my being, I didn’t truly believe that the quality that I was affirming was already within me. Conceptually it was merely just a hope that I wished to embody. Herein lies the problem.
“All the elements for your happiness are already here. There is no need to run, strive, search, or struggle. Just be.”
—Thich Nhat Hanh
You can read, write, recite, and memorize anything you wish, but if you don’t inherently believe it’s possible on a subconscious level there is no way you can ever actualize it.
As soon as I came to this realization, I had an Aha moment, as it all suddenly made sense. This completely ties in which the universal law which states that everything happens to you as you believe. Regardless of your subconscious or conscious intent, the law of attraction will usher in events, circumstances, and experiences, exactly as you believe.
Therefore, if you affirm something that is beyond what you believe is possible for your life, it is instantly negated before it even has a chance to come to pass. Its just a series of hallowed words. No matter how much time and effort you invest, the results will always be the same.
This realization brought up many feelings, and emotions. I mostly felt bamboozled, in that most of what I read did not emphasize the importance of actually believing the affirmation. I merely thought that I could just hope it into existence. Literally the more I recited it, the more I could coerce it into reality. Needless to say this is not how it works.
The more I thought about it, the more it began to make sense. You can recite and memorize whatever you’d like, but its not until you have a true understanding that you are able to change your belief. Belief is at the core of our experience, as it shapes, and molds it. If you are seeking to change your experience you must change your belief.
We each have the freedom and latitude to change anything that displeases us through the power of affirmations. We simply have to believe that we already are whatever qualities we are seeking to invite more of into our experience. It is the power of belief that co-creates with the universe to usher it into your experience. The more you root yourself in belief with each time you recite the affirmation, the faster it will come into manifestation.
Needless to say there are more to affirmations than the obvious. Throughout my mindfulness journey I have had to go through a continuous process of unlearning of a lot of the assumptions that I have accumulated throughout the years.
There have been definately a lot of laughs, AHA moments, and WTF’s along the way. It has definitely been an adventure. I would love to hear about some of your experiences along the way. I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below.
Such a revelation. Faith is the key!