Affirmations Crash Course

Josh Reeves shares his insights on how affirmations can reshape your mindset, enhance your confidence, and cultivate a more positive outlook on life. Through engaging anecdotes and practical tips, he guides listeners in crafting effective affirmations tailored to their goals and aspirations.

Transcript

Hey everyone, This is Josh Reeves and I'm really grateful today to talk to you with a charge and the charge is to support you in creating some creative affirmations and in my experience creating these creative affirmations can make a big difference in one's life. Now there are some fallacies that come with affirmations in my opinion. The first is that the purpose of affirmations is somehow to uplift our self-esteem even though that can be a byproduct of them. You know if I affirm I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and doggone it people like me I'm going to start believing it and that idea that I'm not enough, That affirmation that sometimes has existed in my unconscious or reeked its terrible head at different times in my life that that's going to go away and in my experience that affirmation, Josh you're such an idiot, It doesn't go away. It's still there, It still lingers and so although affirmations can as a byproduct uplift our self-esteem and help us reveal deeper truths about ourselves, It's not my experience that they erase some of those negative beliefs that we carry with us but they can help us overcome them. Affirmations as well are for me not a trick to manipulate the universe into demonstrating for us in some way that it wouldn't if we didn't affirm it. For example, I remember a friend of mine telling me about babysitting a child of a family who had just gotten involved in the church or religious science and the kid has been listening to some of this positive stuff that they are hearing in the youth church and there's a babysitting going on and the parents get home and it's time to go to bed but the child is watching a movie and they tell the child it's time to get ready for bed and he does the best he can to put himself in kind of a lotus position like this and begins to repeat, I am finishing the rest of the movie, I am finishing the rest of the movie and as you can imagine he was sent to bed and yet underlining we see this fallacy of affirmations that it's not about manipulating the universe into doing something for you, It's about co-creating your life with spirit and that perhaps is the most dynamic idea that the science of mind and spirit offers us, That you can co-create your life with a creative mind. That our thoughts, Our choices, Our feelings, Our intentions, Our dreams, Our vision, When combined with a power greater than we are, We can co-create our life. Ernest Holmes, The founder of our faith, He gives this very dynamic definition of life, Simple yet dynamic. Life is infinite potential combined with unlimited creative imagination. Infinite potential, That could be a synonym for God. This idea that all that we mean when we use this term God is the infinite potentiality, The acorn in all things, The matrix. This infinite possibility resides in all things and when it combines with unlimited creative imagination it can bring forth what that potential is. Now this unlimited creative imagination, This is that part that includes us because we are part of mind itself. We are connected with intelligence and so through our intentionality, Through our prayerfulness, Through our knowingness, Through our wants, Desires, And longings, If we can realize that we are connected with this unlimited potential and think creatively, It's interesting to see what we attract ourselves to and what we attract to us in our lives and the amazing things that can happen. Emerson referred to life as a laboratory and I think about that often when it comes to what we're about to do, Which is to form some creative affirmations for our lives with the awareness that we are connected with an unlimited potential and an infinite creative imagination. And so I invite you to ask yourself a couple questions today. You can answer them in your mind. You can pause this and write them down as well. And ask yourself, What is it that I most want to experience? What is it that I most want to experience? I often think of the words from Oriah Mountain Dreamer. She says something to the effect of talking about intimacy. That intimacy is what I ache for. Intimacy with myself, Intimacy with others, Intimacy with all of life. And when I think about what I want to experience most, That word intimacy comes to mind. I want to feel connected. I want to feel that I'm living a true life. I want to feel authentic. I would also invite you to ask yourself how you want to most show up. How you most want to show up. For me, I also think of the words of Henry Nouwen. He gives the example of not wanting to experience his life as a bunch of accidents and random encounters, But as a bunch of divine appointments and synchronicities. I know how I want to show up is in a way that is at one with the flow of my life. I want to show up and have the byproduct of that be a kind of thriving. I want to thrive in my work. I want to thrive in my relationships. I want to thrive in my personal life. In awareness of the answers to these questions, I'm going to invite you to either articulate some affirmations in your mind or to write some down. Normally during these Wednesday Night Insights, When I'm done and the practitioner prays, There's a kind of candle flame that goes up, And I'm going to request Bobby, If he's willing, To throw up the candle image now to give you a couple minutes to just write some affirmations for yourself. They can be I am statements. They could be statements of truth. They could be whatever works for you because there's the opportunity to edit them and to better clarify them a little later. I did this before, And so as you're watching this candle flame, I'm going to read some that I came up with. So mute me or listen to me and see if it inspires you as well. Here's some of the ones I've written for myself. Solitude creates more time for me. Solitude creates more time for me. Creativity is at the center of my life. Creativity is at the center of my life. I am experiencing incredible love and am incredibly loving. I am experiencing incredible love and am incredibly loving. I see others, And as a byproduct of that, I am seen. I see others, And as a byproduct of that, I am seen. My thriving is a direct result of my way of life. My thriving is a direct result of my way of life. Growth is taking place all around me. Growth is taking place all around me. I am riding the momentum of a divine mind. I am riding the momentum of a divine mind. May we all become spiritual surfers. So I hope you've written some affirmations down. And here are the ones I want you to choose for yourself. What I hope for you is that you can articulate three to five dynamic, Creative affirmations for your life that in your morning spiritual practice or before you go to bed, You can repeat these affirmations. The idea behind these affirmations is they shouldn't be so specific that it's as if you are controlling and manipulating them. I am having a divine romantic relationship with Brie Larson. It's a perfectly fine affirmation, But it's so specific that it comes from a consciousness of wanting to control the outcome of my life that I'm not including that divine intelligence that may have something else in mind for me. See, That's the thing about co-creating with this divine mind. We get a say, But so does it. When our creative imagination touches that infinite possibility, There is a connection made, And amazing things can come forward. So don't be so specific that you limit the divine's creative imagination in your life. You want this to be broad enough that it not only means something to you when you say the affirmation itself, But that it can have a unique meaning each day. I had four creative affirmations in 2023, And I think I've shared them with you before. The first was, I am stepping into the next dynamic phase of my ministry. When I articulated that affirmation, I didn't know what it meant or what I wanted, But what it assisted me to do was to think about how I could stretch a little bit more each day and focused on being a better person as a minister, And showing up with better qualities, And working on my talks, And trying to be a more accountable leader. This affirmation has assisted me. The second affirmation is, I am experiencing inspiring abundance. I am experiencing inspiring abundance. And although I was very grateful to money that came to me from different sources this year, And I'm grateful for the abundance in my life, Where this really helped me were times where I had to spend a lot of money. We moved this year, We got a new car into our family this year, And there were times where I certainly at the end didn't have as much money in my bank account as I wanted, But by saying that affirmation, It helped me to realize that I was grateful to be abundant enough to be able to pay for the moving expenses, Or the security deposit, Or the down payment on the car. So I did experience inspiring abundance, And I got to see more from the eyes of abundance, As opposed to looking for it, Or seeing a lack of it in my life. The third was, I am participating in meaningful relationships. What this really helped me to do was when I was in the morning saying my spiritual practice, And if I didn't have a plan to make a meaningful connection with someone that day, It was an opportunity to do that. Josh, Text your mom, Call your brother, Make sure you let so-and-so in the office know what they mean to you, And how grateful you are for them. So that affirmation helped me build purposeful and meaningful relationships without just hoping that activities and connections would happen. And the last one for me was, I am healthy and well. I am healthy and well. And it was a broad affirmation, But you know where it really helped me, Is when I was saying it in the morning, And I wasn't as healthy or well as I knew I could be. And so saying that affirmation each day and imagining what it could look like, It helped me cut down on drinking some, It helped me cut down on sleeping pills I was trying to take to help me sleep, It helped me remember how much I love going out and running, It helped me set a better plan of what I was gonna eat and when that day. And so it wasn't about being hard on myself, But it was about making a daily commitment to being healthy and well. And when I say in the mornings, I am happy, Healthy and well, Sorry, I added a happiness in there, And I really am, It makes me really proud and it builds a momentum for moving throughout our day. And so I invite you to choose and keep articulating three to five affirmations. And we're gonna learn how to articulate our affirmations, How to anchor our affirmations, And how to apply them to the different areas of our lives. And what I believe and what I promise you is if you step into the sense of creative purpose with a recognition that you are a co-creator in your life, That amazing things are gonna happen through this important, Vital and vibrant practice of creative affirmations. Tonight, It's my honor to talk to you about the triple A of affirmations. And last week, We talked about creating for ourselves creative affirmations. And these are statements that we make in an awareness that we co-create our lives with a divine intelligence. We don't create our lives ourselves, Nor does the divine create our lives for us, But we work together in the co-creation of our life. And that's why creative affirmations are so important because we stop, We pause, And we articulate with clarity, With conviction, And with desire what it is that we want to co-create in our lives with spirit. Now, I created some affirmations in brainstorming with you last week, But I've worked on them using the triple A method that I'm about to talk to you about. And so I have articulated four affirmations, And I'm gonna share them with you now. The first is, Creativity is at the center of my life. Creativity is at the center of my life. Second, I am thriving, Prosperous, And healthy. I am thriving, Prosperous, And healthy. The third is, When I meet my own needs, Others' needs are met. When I meet my own needs, Others' needs are met. And lastly, I am deeply loving and profoundly loved. I am deeply loving and profoundly loved. And if you paid attention last week, My affirmations are a bit different than the ones that I shared with you last week. And I'll explain why by sharing the triple A method with you that I'm going to invite you to use in creating your affirmations and applying them to your everyday life. So the first A stands for articulate. Articulate powerful affirmations. And articulating doesn't just mean how they sound when you say them out loud, And I'll talk about that, But it also means how they resonate with you. And so the first question I would ask you as you're looking at your affirmations that you've written is, Are they sincere? I am simply not one for saying affirmations that are bullshit, That don't resonate with my art, That don't mean anything to me, Or that I've created for some superficial idea for who I think I'm supposed to be based upon some authority figures judgment about me. You want your affirmation to really ring true in your heart. Let's take the affirmation, Creativity is at the center of my life. That is a very sincere affirmation for me, Because although the most important thing in my life is my daughter, For example, For me, A meaningful moment always means that creativity is the goal. If there's an hour in my life that doesn't have creativity in it, It's a wasted hour. And so I'm always looking for that creative opportunity, Whether it's writing something, Or doing a creative project with someone, Or just noticing something about life. So creativity is at the center of my life, Is a very centering and authentic affirmation for me. Another question in articulating our affirmations is, Does it stretch us? Does it call us to grow? I am thriving, Prosperous, And healthy is an affirmation that's going to stretch me, Because I know every morning when I say it, If I'm not thriving, If I'm not healthy, If I'm not prosperous, I'm going to know it. And I'm going to be able to utilize that affirmation to restore myself, To forgive myself, And most importantly, To focus myself on what it is that I'm wanting to create it. And then there is the articulating. Last week, I had something that went like this. I am inspiring love and receiving and inspiring love. That probably wasn't it exactly, But it was something like that. And I practiced saying it aloud. And I realized that this inspiration word was getting in the way. And so I eventually came up with something that sounded really good to me. I am deeply loving and profoundly loved. I am deeply loving. Sometimes it's hard to accept myself as deeply loving. Sometimes I judge myself about how I'm showing up with my family or other people. And sometimes it's challenging for me to admit that I'm profoundly loved. Sometimes when I'm loved, I can't help but have that part of me that doesn't think he's worthy of love get in the way. And so this affirmation, I am deeply loving and profoundly loved, Is a very sincere affirmation that helps me really settle into really opening myself to being really giving of love and also receptive to it as well. So the first A, Again, Is articulate. Our second A is anchor. We want to anchor our affirmations throughout our lives and throughout our day. And taking inspiration from BJ Fogg, Who wrote a brilliant book called Tiny Habits, He invites us to take a new habit, In this case, A new affirmation, And to apply it within the habits that we already have within our everyday life. So take a moment, Pause this, Write down, Or just think to yourself right now, What are some things that you do every day, Daily habits? Every day I get out of bed in the morning. Every day I brush my teeth. Every day I, Before I go to bed, Put the coffee in the filter and set the alarm for the coffee to go off in the morning. Every day I put my head on my pillow. Every day I walk outside my door. Every day I turn my car off. The list could be forever. It's amazing the things that we do every day or almost every day. And anchoring can be this practice of taking this new affirmation and applying it to these daily habits so that you learn to say them every day. Whenever I'm done brushing my teeth, I will say, Creativity is at the center of my life. Every night when I put my head on the pillow to go to bed, I will say, I am deeply loving and I am profoundly loved. Try it. Take these affirmations and utilize them throughout your day. To go on a bit of a tangent here, Another thing that you may wanna create for yourself in 2024 is what I call an anchoring affirmation. A creative affirmation is a statement that we make in the spirit of co-creating our life with a divine intelligence. An anchoring affirmation is a divine truth we remind ourselves of when things are stressful or challenging. And so one that I love is when everything feels chaotic, I like to affirm everything is in divine right order. You wanna say it with me? Everything is in divine right order. Everything is in divine right order. And it helps me remember, Even though part of me feels that might be insincere in the moment because things are so crazy, I do believe in this underlining of peace, In this spirit of grace that is always available and that this idea that everything is in divine right order can manifest itself in my life if I let it. If I'm in the dentist's office or at a doctor's appointment and something's going on, I love the affirmation, There is one life, That life is God's life, That life is your life, That life is my life now. I'll chant it over and over and it becomes this kind of anchoring affirmation that helps me remember the spiritual truth in challenging or fearsome situations. So articulate, Anchor, And lastly, Apply. We wanna take these affirmations and apply them to every area in our life. Now I feel blessed and I hope you have the same blessing that one of your daily habits is a morning spiritual practice. And so when it comes to my affirmations, I'm going to recite them almost every morning. And it's not just about reciting them, It's about applying them to the day. Creativity is at the center of my life. And we're gonna apply that to the time that I'm gonna take to write a Sunday sermon. I am thriving, Prosperous, And healthy. I'm going to apply that to paying my bills that day. I meet my own needs and others' needs are met. That's an affirmation for me about boundary setting. It's to remind myself that if I'm not meeting my own needs, I can't help others. And don't get trapped, Josh, In this aspect of sacrificing your own needs, Martyring yourself to help other people. And so I get to apply that to my son asking me for a ride to work that day, Or an errand that my wife needs ran. Whatever it may be, I get to stop and pause and to say, Josh, You're gonna get that run in today. You're gonna get that creative time, And others' needs are gonna be met in that process. And then lastly, Of course, I am deeply loving and profoundly loved. I'm going to apply that to my date night tonight. I'm going to apply that when I'm feeling a little nervous about talking to you on stage on a Sunday, Or even right now into the video camera. It's going to help me remember the truth of who I am and what I want. So I invite you to step into full-on co-creator in your life, To try utilizing affirmations, To pay that little bit of attention, To write some down, Articulate them, Anchor them, And apply them to your lives. And I promise you, Your life will, For the better, Never be the same.