Sunday Serenities – A New Affirmation to Start Your Week
Each week we will be sharing a new affirmation. The introductory information will remain the same, but if you are new to affirmations, please check out the first two sections on “What is an Affirmation?” and “How to Practice Your Affirmation.” If you regularly read our weekly article or already do affirmations, feel free to skip to the section titled “Read Today’s Affirmation.”
What is an Affirmation
Many have heard of affirmations, but if you haven’t tried them yet, you are missing out! Simply put, an affirmation is a statement you use to affirm yourself – you know, to say something positive. There are many different types, and as long as they are positive, there really is no wrong way to do an affirmation.
Affirmations can be a simple phrase, a list of related statements, or a focused paragraph. All of these work well depending on the situation you are working on, the time you have, and your intention – your intention being the most important part of the equation.
Do Affirmations Work?
According to an article by Catherine Moore, Psychologist, MBA in PositivePsychology.com “There is MRI evidence suggesting that certain neural pathways are increased when people practice self-affirmation tasks (Cascio et al., 2016). If you want to be super specific, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex—involved in positive valuation and self-related information processing—becomes more active when we consider our personal values (Falk et al., 2015; Cascio et al., 2016).
The results of a study by Falk and colleagues suggest that when we choose to practice positive affirmations, we’re better able to view “otherwise-threatening information as more self-relevant and valuable” (2015: 1979).”
So the bottom line is yes – affirmations work. It’s not a magic bullet. You do have put in the time and effort to practice them regularly. Do some research and find the affirmations that resonate with you, then begin to put them into practice. You can begin your search with the affirmation for today.
How to Practice Your Affirmation
Here is how to practice today’s affirmation. It is not original – but it is so good, I had to share (with permission of course and the promise to keep the originator anonymous). If you are comfortable with the idea, I like to recommend that people do this in front of a mirror. Read the affirmation a phrase at a time, then pause after each phrase. Take time to look yourself in the eye and then repeat the phrase back to yourself aloud. When you are finished with the affirmation, take time to breathe and reflect.
Finish your time by answering the self-reflection questions below. You can answer them any way you like, but I prefer to have a journal where I can have both my affirmations and the answers to my questions together. You may be surprised when you look back at them one day and discover the answers may be totally different.
Read Today’s Affirmation
I am living a judgment free life.
I avoid judging the decisions of others. Individuality is a beautiful thing because it makes the world interesting.
I am encouraged to be accepting when I recognize how different my perspective is from others.
I respect people’s freedom to choose. The decisions of others are theirs to make.
I stay away from judging others because I am only in charge of my life. It is easy to think that I have all the answers but that is rarely the case.
Understanding the reality of others opens my mind to alternative thinking. Being open-minded is a good way for me to learn and grow. It builds awareness.
My friends make questionable choices all the time, but I avoid being judgmental. I accept that their thought process is influenced by unknown factors. I admit that I also make questionable choices.
Being a good friend means removing personal bias and just being supportive.
When asked, I give advice as a part of my friendly responsibility. I stay away from expecting that advice to be taken and just give it warmly and open-heartedly.
I use my experience to provide guidance, but never impose my beliefs. My responsibility begins and ends by throwing the seeds of wisdom and then accepting how they are received.
Today, I choose to be judgment free and will not judge others or myself.
My relationships are more meaningful when I give others the room to live their own lives.
Answer the Self-Reflection Questions:
1. How do I offer advice to my friends without sounding judgmental?
2. When is it okay to object to a decision that a loved one is making?
3. How can I tell the difference between advice and imposition?
I hope you enjoyed this issue of Sunday Serenities. It is my mission to help provide you with the tools you need to have a more peaceful life so you can:
Find your purpose – Find your joy!
Would you like copy of Improve Your Mindset? Just click on the link – it’s my gift to you.
Did you find a few more ideas of your own? If so, I’d love to hear about them in the comments, and as always please reach out with your thoughts.
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Email: info@SerenitiesNow.com
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