The Use of Affirmations

[emma lucy]

"Wagging the tail of the dog" as it applies to the misconception regarding the use of positive affirmations:
Reciting positive affirmations about yourself (and hoping for results) is like wagging the tail of a dog in hopes of tail-wagging will make the dog happy. It won't. The dog must be happy first, and then its tail will wag.

Any thoughts?

[zannahdu]

Hi, emma lucy...

Well, I thought affirmations were kind of pointless when I started recovery, but I must tell you that for me, they really have helped A LOT. Need proof that they work? Think about it this way-- we've been telling ourselves negative affirmations for years and we came to believe in them, even when they weren't true (I'm fat, I'm stupid, I'm worthless, I don't deserve to eat, I suck...). Positive affirmations work just as well as the negative ones, we just need to say them as often.

A therapist gave me an assignment to make a mark on a paper whenever I had a negative thought about myself, and I was astonished that I had over a hundred in under three hours! OF COURSE I was going to start believing in those thoughts. Now, I try to say hundreds of positive things to myself every hour, and truly, I have started to believe them.

We create our own realities! Believing and trusting are what it is all about...If you think the affirmations will work, THEY WILL--the power is in you!

Love, Suzannah