Mind Your Mind & Watch Your Words

My friend nailed it. He said; “Imagine you are driving a car and you are putting one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake at the same time. That’s what I hear you are doing.” He was right. I had just told him how I really wanted to change some of my habits and create relaxation breaks during my workday. “But I just have so much on my plate all the time, I know it’s going to be really hard to relax.” There’s the culprit: “Its gonna be really hard…”

Well duh – guess what’s going to happen the minute I sit down with a book to relax? That part of my mind that hears every word I say, will create the idea of it being really hard, and will kick in with the beautifully crafted decades-old script of; “ Who do you think you are that you can lay around like a lazy bum – you’ve got work to do!!!” . Or “How long do I have to sit here and try to relax before I can accomplish all I need to do today? Or my tried and true: “See, you can’t do this – every time you try to break a habit you fail!” Sound familiar? Do you have any creative put-downs of your own?

Imagine that you have a magic genie up in the sky listening to every word you say – even the words that are barely audible that you will toss out thinking no-one will catch it: “I can’t sing, I’m no good at math. My body is falling apart. I’m no good at ___( fill in the blanks) . That genie is on call to make sure that everything you say will come true. When you say “I am not _____” (fill in the blanks) that genie will reply with “ Yes master I will make it so,” and will create situations, people, and events to come together to make sure that negative statement is true.

And that’s where affirmations come in. An affirmation is simply a positive statement that can begin with I am, I can, I claim – something that is in the present moment right now. When you can give your over-thinking-ready-to-cling-on-to anything mind something positive to chew on, it can turn the situation around. So my statement of “It’s so hard to relax,” can turn into: “I easily and effortlessly allow myself to relax knowing that it gives me energy and clarity.”

So how about taking one of those negative things you say to yourself or about yourself and turn it around with an affirmation. The “I can’t…” – can turn into “I can.” The “I’m no good at…” – can turn into “I can learn how to…”

Every moment we have a choice of how we are going to see ourselves, the people around us, and the world. Start with really listening to what you say and notice the change when you choose to use words that are kind to yourself. The healing of the world starts with us – and starts with what we say to ourselves. So let those words be loving and kind – you deserve it!