+As (a.k.a. Positive Affirmations)

I am a believer in positive affirmations.  I think they can help us to turn the way we look at something around and to get rid of negative brain chatter.  I don't know when positive affirmations took hold in the world of psychology as a healthy practice, but I know that the Saturday Night Live skit of Stuart Smalley debuted over twenty years ago and was created by comedian Al Franken (I am laughing about this skit even now and about the way my brain works too!)

What's new, at least to me, is that instead of using someone else's positive affirmations, I can write my own.  I recommend writing them somewhere, like in a journal, or on a running list, that we can go back to again and again.  Whenever I feel inspired to write a positive affirmation, I put "+A" in my journal so that I can find any positive affirmations readily when I do a "look back" to see where I have been and how far I've come.

Here are a few of mine:

• My physical body supports me.
• The Spirit* is in me.
• I hope for the best for all people.
• God* wants me to have dreams.

Reflective questions:

1.  Do you have a journal?  Why or why not?

2.  What's one positive affirmation that comes to mind for today?

3.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.