Daily Affirmation 21st April

Daily Affirmation 21st April

I've been a bit slack in keeping up posting my daily affirmations but today seems the ideal day to start sharing again. 

I'm impatient - I want everything done now, done today and when I have a full load of work to get done as I do right now,  I tend to do nothing. It just seems so overwhelming. So when I picked this card out I thought, yes, time to be patient with myself. 

Today I will take one step at a time, I won't agonize over things I don't get done and celebrate the things that I do. 

Today I will be patient with me. 

My Daily Affirmation 19th January

Reflections on an Affirmation

I've just finished posting my article on Signs, Symbols and Sychronicity and this is the card that turned up:

affirmation card - listen

And I do! I think I have always had a need to share what I learn and learning to listen to the whispers life sends is just one thing I am passionate about. I love the idea that, as Gill Edwards says, we can live magically, just by paying attention. 

Of course as always I ended up making a card of my own - with a promise to myself and to the Universe

My affirmation card: Today I will listen

What does it mean for you? Are you lending a listening ear to a friend or something else?

My Daily Affirmation 15th January

Reflections on an Affirmation

I am feeling very fragile today, just one of the downs on the rollercoaster ride that is my life, so it was comforting to pick this card as my daily affirmation.

Affirmation Card: Beauty and Love are all Around Me

In truth the card I picked was a plain white card that said simply Love is All Around Me. A reminder that I am never really alone every when I feel it most. 

But I created this one as a reminder that all I have to do is look around me.  

Today I shall be gentle with myself. In a few minutes I am off to watch the birds in a friend's garden - with my camera of course. Today I shall cherish everything around me and see beauty in unexpected places. 

What are you going to do?

My Daily Affirmation 12 January

Self Help with Affirmations & Other Cards

Every morning I pick out a card from my basket as part of my self help, self development strategy. Most of the time they are affiramation cards, something I will repeat constantly throughout the day to make it so. But they are also to reflect on what they mean for me personally and try to figure out why they have appeared today. In the same basket are self help cards and other divination cards, primarily crystals and animal totems. Today's card is an exercise in self help. Want to join me?

The Main Thing... Affirmation Exercise

Of course my very first reaction is probably the same as everyone else - not a lot. It made me feel uncomfortable that I would need to sit and think about some positive aspects of me - but - here goes.

Appearance wise - I have to say my legs! I've always had good legs and grew up in the age of mini skirts, even our nurses uniforms were short!. Today they are the only parts of my body that have aged well. It's like having two different hemispheres - slim and shaply legs and ankles and blob above - well less blob than a few months ago but still not exactly a matching set.

Now that whole paragraph is telling and something I obviously still need to consider. Why did I feel compelled to add a negative onto a positive? We all do it, the trick is - if you turn up something you don't like, either do something to change it ( like me and my 5:2 diet) or learn to live and accept it.

I was tempted to go with this exercise and I probably will in my personal journal - I like my compassion, my principles and ethics and a whole lot more. But it is the physical that I stumble on most and if it makes me so uncomfortable that I am having trouble expressing it - then I really need to look more closely at why it is important to my personal self esteem and what I can do about it to change my reaction. So I will take today to react to this card and


 maybe today my card will read

Nursing Graduation in Dundee 1973

My Daily Affirmation: 10th January

Affirmation

Affirmation card: today I will reach out my hand

As always I need to think about my card today. At first glance it is simple - I will reach out my hand. 

Why? My first instinct is - to help someone in need, that is the compulsive carer in me and probably something I do best. Admittedly I do most of that at a distance these days. It is easier for me to be anonymous, to remain hidden online or in the background where I don't actually have to make contact in any sort of physical or emotional sense. Life experience has left me battered and bruised and I have chosen to retreat into my shell to protect myself.

So... if we are talking life lessons heres - perhaps today's card is less about me reaching out my hand to help, but reaching out my hand to connect - to accept that sometimes I am the one in need of that compulsive caring. 

My Daily Affirmation: 7th January

Using Affirmations for Self Help

affirmation card: the power of the Universe by annmackiemiller

I am reminded this morning that I am not alone. It is so easy when you are on a journey of self discovery to think that you are - all alone that is. Yet everything in the Universe is geared to supporting and nourishing us. From the beauty of a seascape to the food that we eat, the people we meet, the joys we encounter and the messages it sends us.

I made up this card using a photo I took of the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth Scotland because it reminded me of the joy of natural things that surround us. In my striving for a healthier lifestyle I am reminded that the universe provides me with all I need. The people that come into my life - and yours - are exactly those that support me or have come to teach me something. All around are simple joys to enjoy - the birds on my bird feeders, the cat lying in my lap as I try to type this around her. And the messages - well - I believe the Universe is our guide and sends us messages - as it does when you use  affirmation cards as a tool for self -help and divination.  I'll be writing more about Signs, Symbols and Synchronisitic in anther post.

Yesterday in considering my affirmation I realised that I am happy in my isolation - Today this card appeared to remind me that although that is so - I am never really alone and today I am rejoicing in the peace and inner calm this realization brings me.

My Daily Affirmation: 6th January

Daily Affirmations and what they mean 

Affirmation Cards

I have a basket full of affirmation cards I have picked up over the years, some are bought, some given, some I even made myself. Every day I pick one and sometimes they don't make me feel comfortable which is an indication I should probably be looking at why that is. For the next few weeks, in the darkest days of winter, I plan to share with you the card I pick for the day and the thoughts and feelings it stimulates. Maybe this is something you would like to copy as you reach for better health in mind, body and spirit.

What Are Affirmations and Do They Really Work?

Believe from freedigitalphotos.net

Introducing positive thinking and how it can improve your life.

A great way to introduce positivity into your life is through affirmations. 

Affirmations are short positive statements which you repeat to yourself over and over - almost like a mantra if you like.  Instead of wasting energy going over the hundred different things you should have said or done, train your mind to introduce positive improvements in your life.

In a very short time you will notice that there are many more positive things in your life than there were before. So whether you want to attract abundance in material or spiritual things, to improve your body and your health or just to feel more in balance, affirmations are a great place to start. 

The first Universal Truth is that “Energy Follows thought”

Note Card: Positive Thoughts by Just_Cards

What you think is very much - what you get. Consider every thought that passes through your mind as a point of power in your life. With the help of affirmations you have the choice to use that point of power in a positive manner. 

There are some simple rules to remember: 

1. The universe does not recognise NO and NOT so don't use them. Don't say "I have NO debt." Rather say, "I am Free of debt." 
2. Be specific. At a time in my life when I was particularly hard-up I would chant, “money comes quickly and easily to me” on my way to work. Three mornings running I found a 1p piece on the ground outside my shop. The universe does have a sense of humour.
3. Use the present tense. If you say “I am going to..” it will always stay in the future. Say “I love me,” not “I am going to love me.” That usually means you are qualifying it, like "I am going to love me when... I lose weight."
4. Keep it short. If it becomes too long it is cumbersome and you won’t remember it all. If it helps, set it to a tune or pace one word in time with each of your footsteps or to your heartbeat.
5. Get into the habit of changing your thought patterns into positive affirmations. When you find yourself tormenting yourself with thought, shift it into a positive statement. For example, “I am free of torment,” or develop a stock phrase you use when you are not programming your universe for something specific. For example, “I am safe, I am well, I am happy.” You will find you very quickly manage to think in affirmations which can only make you stronger.
6. Use them everywhere, in the shower, in the car, on your way to work, even during meditations. They are especially powerful in that half state between waking and sleeping.
7. Say them with your heart and mind. Take a deep breath and take it down into your chest. The universe knows when you are half-hearted. Sometimes believing you deserve whatever it is, is half the battle. Losing weight for example is often linked to low self esteem, often creating a 'shell' of comforting fat around you to shield you from the world. So if one of your affirmations is related to body image try something like, "I am the perfect shape for ME." It takes the burden off you and gives the universe the opportunity to make the perfect you.
8. Be prepared for the positive results although they don’t always come as you expect. Sometimes the things we wish for are not for our higher good, but something else is. Using affirmations regularly means you are opening yourself to possibilities. 
9. Using affirmations promotes a positive, helpful attitude to your life. You'll find your life improves automatically if your attitude changes.

from freedigitalphotos.net

Getting started with affirmations:

Write a list of 10 things you would like to change in your life then think of 10 affirmations which would help. Write them down in a diary or journal. 

At first if you would prefer to weigh less than you do now your may write, “I must lose weight.” But note how this makes it a compulsion and if you don’t succeed it sets you up for a failure which gives you yet something else to hit yourself over the head with. Instead, your affirmation here might be, “I am the perfect weight.” And you are, remember that extra inches always indicate a comfort zone and when you are ready to lose it, you will.

Keep going if you can, add a few more every day until you have around 50 - you can make these into your own personal affirmation cards later on. 

Affirmation Cards

There are loads of affirmation cards available to buy online or you can make your own. These are simply little business-card-size cards with positive sayings or aspirations on them. The idea is you can pick one out at random and use that for your affirmation of the day. I talked about them earlier as a divination tool but they are just as useful as a self help tool. 

My affirmation cards

Making your own cards can be a powerful start-up tool for self help and self improvement. With a computer it is so easy to do. 

You can either just print out a long list of affirmations you have thought of for yourself, cut them into strips with a saying on each and put them in a basket.

Or - use a business card template to create more professional looking ones. 

from freedigitalphotos.net

Tips on how to make affirmations for positive thinking and positive living even more powerful.

Once you start using affirmations regularly you probably know they work well provided they are for your higher good. Here is a wee trick just to reinforce your affirmations and make them even more powerful.

I try to take at least 20 minute exercise every day and since I don’t believe in the “no pain no gain” fraternity, that is either swimming or walking. I use this time to let my mind concentrate on any affirmations I might be working with – timing each short affirmation either to a stroke in swimming or to a pace in walking. 

For me, this type of exercise is really “moving meditation”, a chance to let the right side of my brain take control.  Essentially it gives me at least 20 minutes every day to convince the universe I really, REALLY mean it.

Please note I say SHORT affirmations – long complicated ones won’t work and lets face it, the universe much prefers you to keep it simple anyway – makes for much less confusion.

Over time I have found that with each affirmation I can reinforce it – Strengthen it – By introducing a mental image of me achieving the affirmations.

The affirmation:

·         I am slim – Constitutes an immediate image of a much thinner me.

·         I am trim – An image of a very flat stomach.

·         I am healthy – Well what would that mean to you? Running upstairs, having boundless energy? The instant image I have is of myself looking fresh, bright eyed with shining hair and rosy cheeks.

·         I am wealthy – What image would you like to see of yourself? For me it is opening envelopes with large cheques from publishers.

·         I am fulfilled – in my head I see myself working in my garden and growing my herbs.

I’m sure you get the idea. Don’t try to complicate it, life really can be simple. Enjoy.

What is divination? How to use it for self help

Rhododendron in bub
 Photography by annmackiemiller

Divination as a tool of self help and development

I believe the Universe provides us with all the help we need to achieve growth as a human being  - to help us achieve our full potential.  First is simply common sense and an ability to think,  to imagine and  to explore.  Second is our ability to develop self-awareness.  Anyone can learn to use simple forms of divination to achieve that end.  All you are really doing is tuning in to your inner self, that part of you that is wise and already has all the answers you will ever need. 

All of us are constantly asking questions.  What should I do next, is this the right job for me, is there something more I could be doing, what's it all about, am I on the right path?  It is part of modern society that we seem beset with the questions and don't really trust ourselves to know the answers.  We have abdicated our responsibilities to others, to those we feel are superior to us in some way.  They'll not, they just shout louder than your inner self.  

In a way I suppose it comes down to self esteem and the realization that no one outside of yourself really knows what is best for you and for your highest good.  The answer may not always be the one you want.

Often it seems that we are flailing about in the dark, muddling though with no real idea of where to turn.  The where to turn is easy - inside.  At first it seems difficult to access that inner self, but in the end it is like pressing the right buttons on your computer, strike the right key and hey presto - a document appears.  In self divination, press the right internal button and hey presto - you have within you an accessible tool that will never let you down.  Just remember no decision is ever a WRONG decision, it is just a choice, it may mean you take a bit of a detour, but there are always lessons that you will learn along the way.

Simple divination methods

from pixabay

Pick a word for daily inspiration or guidance

Simple, easy, instant. Use this method for everyday work - you aren't asking for an answer to a specific question, just general insight for the day.  As always, it is your intention that is important so, if in your mind you are looking for a little guidance that is what you will receive.  Use a dictionary or any other book, maybe a favourite of yours, maybe one with inspirational quotes like meditations for women who do too much.

I have a dictionary handy so in the morning I open a page and the first word that catches my eye is usually the one that is most relevant for that day. I don't believe in coincidence, I believe something comes to you for a reason. Often it is something I need to look at in myself - today for example my word is "mislead". I didn't say it would always be something you are comfortable with and I confess I did feel uneasy when I spotted that one. It is tempting to look for another you like better but that is just avoidance. So - now I will take some time to do a meditation on that word - is it me who is being led astray, it is me who is doing the leading, am I misleading someone or being misled? Don't forget that the person I might be misleading is myself - am I kidding myself about something? Only I will know and once I recognise it then I can take steps to work with it.

my affirmation cards

Daily Affirmation Cards

These are cards printed with a positive message. There are lots of affirmation cards available to buy - I've collected quite a few over the years. Some of them are simple positive statements, some are inspirational quotes or poems I have picked up. I keep them in a basket near my telephone. Then I can either pick one out every day or when I am on the phone.  I often find myself idly flicking through them when I am talking to friends and it never fails to surprise me that a card I pick out on those occasions are relevant for them. 

I trained to facilitate Louise L Hay workshops so as always some of my favourite tools for self help come from her.

  

And of course, you can make your own! It can be something as simple as typing out a list of positive saying, printing them out and cutting into individual slips you can shuffle around. Personally I use business card templates and print them out on business cards - I'll show you how I do it in another place soon. It's in the development stage :)  I've done with animal totems and with crystals. 

bowl of crystals
photography by annmackiemiller

Daily Divination with Crystals

As I am a crystal therapist and reader it is no surprise I use crystals for divination too. I have bowls of crystals all over the house and pick out one to carry most days. The crystals that turns up for you is usually relevant for that day. Tomorrow it might be something completely different. 

You can find sources online if you need - be discerning and pick out the ones that seem to ring true for you. Like anything, interpretation is what is means to YOU, not necessarily to someone else. This one is quite good but there are others you might browse through. - A-Z of crystal meanings. 

Divination is something we will explore in more depth as time goes on but for now I hope this little introduction has given you something to think about. 

Bright Blessings.