"Things are not as bad as I think they are." by Alan Tutt

Today I want to share with you a very powerful affirmation which
has gotten me out of some rather unpleasant circumstances.

According to many who teach affirmations, it's not a good one,
but I can tell you from my own experience -- it works!

Just to make sure we fully understand each other, I should define
what I mean by "affirmation".  An affirmation is a statement
which refocuses our mind with the intention of altering the
experiences we have in our lives.

A classic affirmation may be something like:
"Every day, in every way, my life is getting better and better."

This is the famous affirmation taught by Emile Coue in the
classic book, "Self Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion."
(By the way, this book may be found in the Research Library
offered as a bonus with all PowerKeys Publishing memberships.)

The principle behind affirmations is that by repeating the
statement over and over again, our minds start to believe it,
and from there, the power of belief starts to direct the course
of events in our lives to produce the essence of the statement in
our experience.

Traditionally, affirmations are supposed to be phrased in the
present tense (happening, or existing now), and positive (stating
the desired condition directly, rather than through the use of
'not').

Many years ago, when I was just starting to learn these
principles, I had many negative conditions in my life.  When
things seemed to be at their worst, and I could not see any way
to cope, I repeated the following affirmation over and over.

"Things are not as bad as I think they are."

It may seem strange that I didn't use an affirmation that said
something more like "My life is a glorious picture of perfection.
Everything happens exactly as I want it to."

After all, that would seem to fit the standard definition of what
an affirmation is supposed to be, right?

Maybe, but it wouldn't have worked.

Here's why.  To be effective, an affirmation must be believable!

If you try repeating an affirmation that makes your stomach turn
because you know it's absolutely not true, then the only thing
you're doing is reinforcing the belief that things are bad.

And that's not what you want.

Even though that little affirmation doesn't measure up to
traditional standards, it works because it was something I could
believe.  I could believe that I didn't have an accurate idea of
what really existed in the world around me.

And admitting that I didn't know everything opened the door for
my inner mind (and the Power of the Universe) to show me a better
side of the world.

Each time I felt so low that the only thing I could focus my mind
upon was the idea that I was wrong, I would spend a few minutes
repeating this strange little affirmation to myself. 

A few minutes was all it took, because I started to feel better,
and I could believe that there were better things happening, or
at least they COULD happen.

And that was enough to get the ball rolling in the right
direction.  The very next day, I would always find a bit of "good
luck" coming my way, making the sun shine brighter, and easing my
way down Life's highway.

Hopefully, things aren't that bad in your life.  But if they are,
or if you know something who thinks things are that bad, I
suggest using this affirmation:

"Things are not as bad as I think they are."

As surely as the sun rises the next day, so will your spirits.

reBlog from thedepressiontrap: The Depression Trap

I found this fascinating quote today:

Do our thoughts cause our feelings or do our feelings cause our thoughts? Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is based on the theory that feelings are caused by thoughts. This seems to make a lot of sense. If we spend all our time thinking that our life is awful, we are useless and nothing is ever going to get better then it’s not surprising that we end up feeling sad, hopeless and despairing. Equally if we think we will succeed, recognize all the positive things in our life and think that things will improve this may help us to feel happy, optimistic and positive. The Depression Trap, Jul 2008

You should read the whole article.

Finally, Real Help With Life!

We all have frustrations, worries, fears, and stress right? But have you every wondered just how these feelings are serving you? Are these negative energy systems making you feel good about yourself and about your life situation? Or are they just bringing you down further into larger problems, bigger fears and even more to worry about?


What would freedom of all negative thinking mean to you?

We have been programmed since birth to fear the world around us. We were taught to be very careful in life as to survive, after all there is constant danger lurking around every corner. When we were little we were told don’t trust anyone, don‘t talk to strangers, wash your hands, don’t put things in your mouth or you might get sick, fear God - you’d better be good or you'll go to hell, fear of failure -you better do good in school so you can become a success, peer pressure - you may have decided to do something negative or act a certain way for fear of not fitting in, you may have witnessed your mother fearfully reacting to a spider or a bumble bee and assumed that you had to fear insects too; as you can see, the list goes on and on.

Maybe right now you feel like your life is in shambles. Maybe your going through a bad break up, or maybe you just lost your job, maybe you are sick or in pain most of the time. What ever it is that’s bothering you right now, can be virtually eliminated right now. You have the power within you already, you were born with it, and nobody can take it away from you. You could meditate, visualize, or repeat positive affirmations all day long but the core problem still remains, your awful feelings keep coming up. Until you learn how to release them that is!

Gratefulness

I love how a simple daily occurrence has the power to enlighten us, if we are aware enough to see it, that is.

Let me explain…

As I was casually getting around to waking up this morning, I went to the kitchen to get a coffee and some toast. If you knew me, you would agree that I’m a bit clumsy in the morning before my first cup of java.

While I waited for the water to come to a screeching boil, my toast popped, all warm and golden brown….yummmm. So I’m fumbling around, twisting the jelly jar open, pulling a butter knife from the utensil drawer, and spreading a nice thick layer of jelly on the first piece of toast.. I picked up the other piece of toast and plunked a big heaping spoonful of jelly on it to spread around.

Just as I had finished and was about to put it back on my plate, it slipped from my hand. This has probably happened to you too a time or two, so you must be familiar with the gasp that follows.

Of course, my first reaction was “aarrggg!,” but then I noticed it landed on the cupboard jelly side up! As soon as I realized my luck, I felt a rush of love and thankfulness wash over me. I felt so grateful to the Universe for my toast landing safely on the cupboard with no sticky mess.