Affirmations of Love
“Affirmations take our thoughts to a more protective and powerful place. By affirming good, by affirming daily gratitude, you, yourself will find more peace from giving your thoughts a break from the worry cycle.” ― Machel Shull
As a mother, I cannot even count how many times in a day that I tell my son I love him and no matter what that count actually is, it is never enough…. It could never be, because there is no end to my love for him.
I wonder how many of us could say the same for the way in which we speak to ourselves… How often do you tell yourself “I love you”? I am going to guess that 99% of you would have answered “not very often, if ever” to that question. And how often do you verbalise positive affirmations to yourself, about you as an individual, life situations etc. - Not very often either huh?
Why is that? In a society riddled with negativity, I think that developing daily habits that contribute towards a healthy level of self-love is more important now than it has ever been. Media bombards us on a continuous basis - It is truly relentless in fact, and for the most part, we do not walk away feeling better about ourselves.
“Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.” - Roy T. Bennett
Take beauty magazines for instance… from cover to cover they are filled with visuals of people with bodies and faces that most of us will never have and clothes that wouldn’t even fit a broomstick. I don’t read them anymore because I find that they leave me feeling empty or somewhat inadequate.
The reality of the matter is that in order for each and every one of us to lead a truly “happy” life, we need to learn not only to speak positively to ourselves on a regular basis, but to develop a healthy self-love too.
Living a life where you actively practice self-loving acts is so critical, because the way you see and feel about yourself, influences absolutely everything else in your life. Your job choices, your partner choices, how you handle stressful situations, how you handle your children, EVERYTHING!
“Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down.” - Roy T. Bennett
Start each day by telling yourself something positive and if you can muster the courage… do it in front of a mirror. Tell yourself how good you look or perhaps congratulate yourself on a certain achievement – or simply say “I love you.”
This might feel a little awkward or silly in the beginning, but you will become more comfortable with it as the days turn into weeks and the weeks into months… Be patient with yourself too… Self-love is something that develops over a life time and most of us only start actively practicing this as adults.
In addition to the morning “chat” you have with yourself, try adding to it by surrounding yourself with positive affirmations, whether on your fridge door, in frames on a wall or on your dressing table mirror… You will be amazed how wonderfully impactful this is.
“Deep at the center of my being there is an infinite well of love.” - Louise L. Hay
Another way of doing this is online - We all spend a tremendous amount of time on social media these days, so try and cater your feed experience so that as you scroll down you are confronted with positivity, rather than all the latest doom and gloom of the world. Go and search positive affirmation pages / accounts to follow so that you can start making this an active part of your daily experience.
The brain will believe anything it is told often enough and if you are filling it with positivity all day, every day, this will begin to steer you in a different direction.
In addition to the above - Sometimes, it is also great to practice a more “tangible” approach to self-love and there are endless ways to do this…
Go and buy yourself a bunch of flowers
Take yourself out for a coffee and some “me time”.
Make a list of all your positive attributes and read it regularly.
Put on one of your best outfits for work.
Buy yourself something that you have REALLY wanted for a long time.
These are just a few suggestions, but I am guessing that from this you could probably think of quite a few more. Do not misunderstand the practice of such “tangible” suggestions… they themselves are not self-love… buying yourself flowers does not mean you will miraculously and instantaneously love yourself. Yes, it makes you feel good, but it is only a CONTRIBUTING action to the development of self-love.
Self-love is a growth process… and the longer we repeatedly and regularly practices such acts of “kindness” towards ourselves, the more you will discover that you better accept your weaknesses – therefore judging yourself less harshly. It is a life long journey, but a very important one which we should be mindful of.
“Affirmations are our mental vitamins, providing the supplementary positive thoughts we need to balance the barrage of negative events and thoughts we experience daily.” ― Tia Walker
❤❤❤
Until next time...
Much Love from Country Bumpkinland, South Africa xxx
Jaynielea
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Affirmation…100% agree. My life is so much more productive, more fulfilling, more happy because of affirmations…especially when I have to get something done. I concentrate on what I can do, not what I can't do. And that “can do” attitude gets me to my goal faster. I know people that are very pessimistic. And their life is…difficult. I do not choose that for myself.
The strongest limit is in my mind. Even if I can't do something, I am 100% satisfied that I tried. Having an optimistic attitude about things isn't being naive, it's being proactive. Because if I think that I can't do something, I will never try, and I won't do it, this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Plus, when I try and fail, I learn a lot, so trying is always a worthwhile endeavor.
A quote from US Army General Colin Powell that I like…
Hi @fijimermaid <3
YES!!!
It is a personal choice and a DECISION. It does not mean everything is roses all the time, but simply making a choice to look at the bright side of things. Everything in life is about perspective... I see nothing fruitful coming from people who are pessimistic toward others who are proactively positive.
Love that!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my writing and for sharing your thoughts!
Hope you are having an amazing Wednesday!!! xxx
greetings Jaynie, and thank you for the so important words of positivity and self-love, specially in this so difficult reality we live in to cultivate hope.
I really appreciated this paragraph you wrote, because of the concreteness of it. I too believe a lot in the power of a smile and spreading good to others around us, and I too face difficulties in giving as much love to myself as I deserve. But reminding ourselves that the brain is also an organ and can be trained in positivity transforms the exercise of self-love from something complex and mystical to something more tangible and achievable, which is really powerful.
your post made my night better, and I'm sure it made the world better too! have a nice week :)
You are very welcome @massola and thank you too - for taking the time to read and appreciate what I have shared with all of you!
You are so right and yes, it is indeed very powerful! Something I only really began to learn fully when I actually started making a real effort to implement it into my daily living.
Aaaah!!! That was such a lovely thing to say, thank you!!!!! You know, I have always said that I know I write and ramble on a lot about stuff like this, but if even ONE person gets something positive from it, then it was ABSOLUTELY worth it and I am happy for that! - So thank you for sharing that with me!!! I appreciate the fact that you did, very, very much!
I hope you are having a wonderful start to your week too!
This post has received a 100.0 % upvote from @boomerang.
Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu @boomerang :) Always very grateful!!!
A parent's love for their child can never be measured by anything because in principle this love is born naturally, continues to grow in the recesses of their heart.
But on the other hand, not all children will reciprocate their parents' love, they even forget when their parents die.
Interesting writing
You are right - sad as that is. I even know a few people like that who did not even attend their parents funerals. very tragic.
Though I do not necessarily agree on the natural love of a parent. Whilst I do think that it is almost always true - there are exceptions where there is little to no love there - only bitterness and resentment, especially in the cases where the child was not planned, and/or the parent has been left in a less than ideal situation with the child.
Terrible to see that sort of thing, though it does exist - again, also very sad.
Thanks for stopping by to read @irawandedy and for sharing your thoughts on my writing.
Yes, whatever the process, children are the fruit of love and affection, even though they are unwanted and other x factors.
Parents have to accept reality and sometimes the psychological disorders they experience have fatal consequences, they cannot think logically and in the end their children become victims.
Nice see you...
So true.
You are wise in your thoughts @irawandedy and I appreciate you coming by to share them!
Greetings, very beautiful images and also enjoy reading your texts, you are a great creative, congratulations.
Thank you so much @antonioeviesart :) I appreciate that! I am not a photographer, but I do LOVE to play with the camera and finding creative aspects to ordinary moments :)