Affirmations and Intentions
Affirmative Mini-Reflections
1. Affirmation: I easily give love, and I easily accept love from others.
Many of us reject love. We are given a gift, and we think it's too costly for us. We are given a compliment, and we discount it. Yet we are happy to give gifts to those we love and quick to admire their skills or beauty. Today, I enjoy giving gifts of time or treasure and compliments to those around me. I choose to receive gifts with heartfelt thanks and to let compliments teach me about my own ability and beauty. Nothing happens without reason, and the gifts and kind words that come my way are sent to teach me how loved and worthwhile I am.
2. Affirmation: My experiences teach me to be stronger and more compassionate.
Many people forget about spirituality when their lives are going well. They are busy going places and doing things and enjoying their lives, and this is good. However, when things in our lives go badly, often the discomfort or disappointment send us looking to Spirit for meaning and understanding.
Everything brings a gift, if we take the time to seek it. Hardship and pain in our lives give us insight into the struggle faced by so many others. Moreover, when we look back at other times in our life when things went badly, we can see that we got through those times - and that realization gives us not only the strength to get through trials to come but also the courage to face them without fear. We got through hardship before, and we can trust that we will get through whatever comes our way.
3. Affirmation: I’m willing to see things differently.
There is a meme that shows two people on opposite sides of a large number on the floor. They are angrily shouting at each other: "It's a SIX!" "No, it's a NINE!" We smile to think that they wouldn't realize that they are both right; they are just looking at the number from different perspectives. So much conflict could be eased in the world if we took the time to consider issues from new perspectives.
Our opinions may not change, but our willingness to consider the other person's point of view can do much to ease discord. Sometimes we are the ones whose opinion needs to change as we look at our lives, our goals, and especially, our mistakes. Remembering that we are always trying to do our best, even when we fall short, can help us to fill our hearts with greater peace and self-love - and what is more conducive to healing than that?
4. Affirmation: Today I choose love.
What does it mean to choose love? It may mean foregoing the satisfaction of an angry or insulting word to another. It may mean taking a deep breath and blessing the cars that are clogging the road and slowing us down. It may mean refraining from disgusted self-criticism when we spill our coffee or upset a pile of books. Choosing love means going through the day graciously, generously.
It means taking a broader view in which small irritations melt in the wider perspective. It may mean regarding the interruption of a child or pet or marketing call as a little person or creature wanting loving comfort or a person far away trying to earn a living in a difficult economy. For some people, choosing love seems very much like giving a 'pass' to offenders, but the opposite is true: it is giving ourselves an out from ugly feelings and emotions, and that is a 'pass' to a happier day.
5. Affirmation: I allow myself to realize that I have power over whatever I experience in my life.
Each of us has tremendous power over our life experiences. We may not be able at this time to mend a broken bone with a word, but we can limit its power to hurt us and enhance its power to help us. That power lies in our ability to choose our thoughts and our perspective.
We can dwell on the neighbor child who left a skateboard where we could fall, and if we do, we will be angry and bitter. We will feel as though we have been the victim of bad luck or a thoughtless - or worse - child. Those feelings will make the discomfort even worse than it might otherwise be. If, however, we dwell on our good fortune in that we broke only the leg rather than the neck or back, we will feel different emotions which carry entirely different energies that ease discomfort and increase happiness.
Whether it is an unhelpful spouse, limited finances, physical conditions, or any other trial, the truth is that we can use our own thoughts to make the experience easier.