This week’s affirmation by Jim1537 was about money and financial blessings. It’s odd, but most people have a hard time with money affirmations. It seems that for many of us, there is a strong sense of poverty consciousness that permeates our being and keeps us from manifesting the financial blessings we deserve. This type of deep-seated belief makes any kind of manifestation more difficult and applies to not just money, but other areas of our lives as well.
Some years back, I read several books on the then “in” practice of rebirthing. While I personally found many of the concepts too extreme for my tastes, I was fascinated by the rebirthers’ strong use of affirmations. Some of the affirmations seemed almost silly: teaching people to turn a light switch on and say “Let there be light!” or using the affirmation “Money falls out of the sky and into my lap.”
As silly as these affirmations seem, there are sound metaphysical reasons why the technique works. First, these type of affirmations help get us in touch with our “inner creator.” If each of us has a spark of the divine within us, each of us also has a spark of the Divine Creator. We’ve just forgotten how to be in touch with that part of our spiritual being. Affirmations such as these help us do just that.
Secondly, these affirmations are very visual. You can’t say “Money falls out of the sky and into my lap” without seeing a mental picture of it happening.
Why is this important? The subconscious mind, the part of our mind we are trying to influence, ”sees” in pictures. That’s why affirmations are always phrased in the positive - the mind can’t see not doing something. The subconscious mind’s natural tendency is to ignore the “don’t” or the “do not” and actually visualize doing whatever the words “do not” were in front of - whether we want it or not.
This is really clear when working with children. There is a huge difference between telling a child “Don’t leave your toys on the floor” and telling them to “Pick up your toys and put them away.” ”Don’t leave your toys on the floor” creates a mental picture of toys scattered all over, not exactly the image Mom is trying to reinforce! “Pick up your toys,” however, is a clear mental picture the child’s mind can work with.
As time goes on, our minds learn to process differently and we can grasp the “do not,” but our subconscious still continues to see in terms of pictures. Therefore, when we we flip the light switch and say “Let there be light,” even though our conscious mind may think wiring and electric bills, the subconscious only sees that you pronounced it and the light appeared!
The subconscious mind’s ability to see in pictures actually means that applying the technique of visualization to our affirmations intensifies their effect, making them work more quickly and more powerfully. Books like Shakti Gawain’s Creative Visualization can help sharpen visualization skills so that you can apply them more effectively to your affirmations. The clearer that you visualize, the better the results you will see in working with affirmations.
When you are visualizing, it also helps to emotionally feel the reality you are trying to manifest. As you say your affirmations, imagine what it feels like to actually have what you are affirming. This strengthens your mind’s ability to create the object of your desires because it works with the law of attraction.
As you visualize and feel the reality you are trying to affirm, allow yourself to feel a sense of joy in receiving. Gratitude works wonders, and treating what we are affirming as though it’s already happened helps us to bypass the part of our mind that is negative and has doubts. Try using childhood memories to capture this feeling - these memories are extremely powerful and often are less influenced by the negativity that we have acquired in adulthood.
Finally, don’t forget the silly fun factor. Most people approach doing affirmations with the same sense of functionality as brushing their teeth. They think of it as work, a chore, not as something fun. Remember, you are doing affirmations because you want to change something in your life, to reduce negativity and make your life better. Allow the feeling of excitement, joy and anticipation to come through when you work with your affirmations. You are helping to create the life of your dreams - what could be more fun and exciting than that?
