FIVE AFFIRMATIONS FOR FIRST AID

It’s autumn in the UK, and dark by mid-afternoon; soon the trees will be bare and I’m wondering how it is that another year has slipped past.

Or… how magical it is to watch the trees aflame with every imaginable shade of red and gold, to snuggle indoors, and use this time for quiet reflection about all the gifts of this year.

Which is true? Whichever I choose to believe, as Louise Hay, the author of the quintessential book on affirmations, You Can Heal Your Life, points out. Our thoughts create our feelings which create our experience.

In any moment I can choose thoughts that make me feel good, at peace with the world and my life. Or I can choose thoughts that leave me feeling sad, frustrated or powerless.

Listen to your daily soundtrack

I remember the first time I came across You Can Heal Your Life and read that it is our thoughts that create our lives. Louise says that “all we are ever dealing with is a thought, and a thought can be changed”.

Really? After all the years when my mind’s relentless chatter left me feeling jangled and helpless – what if I got something wrong; why was there never enough time; would I ever be a good enough parent; what if the money ran out?  – could it really be so simple?

I was intrigued: if I was responsible for creating a life that often felt like an uphill slog, then I was free to re-create it. What would change in my life if I chose to replace those hard thoughts with thoughts that were kinder, more compassionate, positive and empowering?

The power of affirmations

A great deal, as it turned out. These days I teach this message to others as the facilitator of Heal Your Life workshops and have found a peace in my life that I never believed possible.

Still, there remain times when life challenges me to remember the truth that every thought we think is creating our future.

I’m sure the same is true for you,  especially at this time of year when there always seems so much to do and we risk becoming human doings instead of human beings. When, in the northern hemisphere at least, the dying of the light, brings to mind endings. And the approach of a new year may remind us of resolutions we failed to keep.

For such times I have a few go-to affirmations. Old favourites that act like a kind of first aid to still the anxious chatter in my head and restore me to balance.

You’ll know some of them; others, I hope, may be useful to you when you feel challenged in the coming weeks.

Whatever happens I’ll handle it

A favourite way to reassure myself is with this affirmation from Susan Jeffers’ book Feel the fear and do it anyway. Yes, life can be scary and uncertain but the very fact we’re still here, still committed to our own journey of growth, means we’ve handled the challenges so far and will do so again.

I have all the time I need to do the things that matter to me

My biggest demon for years was the belief I had too many commitments and too little time to meet any of them properly. Whereas the truth is that the things that truly mattered to me did get done. As for the rest, I did my best, which brings me to…

I’m always doing my best and my best is good enough

Louise Hay says we are always doing our best with the information, awareness and knowledge we have at the time. She also says that if we could have done things differently at that time we would have. None of us can do better than our best with the awareness and knowledge we have – which is why this affirmation is so reassuring.

I sleep in peace

That monkey mind used to climb into bed with me every night. Now it appears only rarely and when it does, I roll over and repeat this affirmation like a mantra, over and over again.

I can choose peace rather than this

And breathe 😊. What a wonderful way of restoring peace of mind when we find ourselves in the middle of one of life’s maelstroms. We may not have a choice about what’s happening but, as Louise says, we always have a choice about how we think about it. Just repeating this affirmation a few times, I notice my breath quietening.

Find the affirmations that work for you!  Your thoughts will create your life!

Jane Matthews is a Heal Your Life ® teacher and coach
as well as a UK teacher mentor. She is the author of seven books,
including Have the Best Year of Your Life and the forthcoming title Living
Softly. She can be contacted via janematthews.com