Fred Harteis Editor's Note: Here is another great article to help build the positive aspects of our lives.
"The Power of Affirmations
By Remez Sasson
Positive affirmations are positive sentences repeated many times in order to impress the subconscious mind and trigger it into action. These sentences describe a situation that we desire to happen, and are repeated many times, with conviction, attention and feelings.
Imagine that you are swimming with your friends in a swimming pool. They swim fifteen rounds, something you have never done before. As you desire the respect of your friends, you want to show them that you can make it too. You start swimming, and at the same time keep repeating in your mind: "I can do it, I can do it...". You keep thinking and believing that you are going to complete the fifteen rounds. What are you actually doing? You are repeating positive affirmations.
More than often people repeat negative sentences and statements, concerning diverse situations in their lives, and consequently bring upon themselves undesirable situations. Affirmations work both ways, to build and to destroy. They are a kind of a neutral power. It is the way we use them that determines whether they are going to bring good or harmful results.
Affirmations are similar to creative visualization. The repeated words build mental images and scenes in the mind. The words help to focus on the aim, object or situation one wants to achieve or create. Frequent repetitions make the subconscious mind accept them, and then it influences and affects the way one thinks, acts and behaves.
The conscious mind, the mind you think with, starts this process, and then the subconscious mind takes charge. This means that the most frequent thoughts that pass through your mind, ultimately affect your life and your destiny.
Affirmations work like commands that are given to a computer. They influence us, other people, events and circumstances. It might seem strange to you, but they do also influence the people we meet, our circumstances and the events we encounter.
Sometimes they work fast, but more often they need time. Repeating positive affirmations a few minutes, and then thinking negatively, neutralizes the effects of the positive words. You have to refuse negative thoughts, otherwise you will not attain positive results.
We often repeat affirmations, without even being aware of the process. We use them when we tell ourselves that we can't do something, that we are too lazy, or when we believe we are going to fail. The subconscious mind always accepts follows what we tell it. It is the same principle at work when we say to ourselves that we can do it, or we cannot, when say we are going to succeed and when we keep saying that we are going to fail. It is the same power working both ways. Why not choose the better way?"