The Strong Within Affirmation Podcast
Education:Self-Improvement
408 I Say Yes To Great Opportunities February 2018 Monday Week 3
Mindful Mondays-408# February 12th The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast
I Say Yes To Great Opportunities
“I imagine that yes is the only living thing.”
~E. E. Cummings
That’s a pretty powerful quote when you think about it, and usually the simplest things are the most profound. What I heard when I saw that quote is—there is ONLY life in yes. And if No is the opposite of yes, then “no” is lifeless.
But how can that be, because “no” is an answer in helping us describe what we don’t want? And I wouldn’t disagree with you, but I think there are better ways to focus—then on the word “no.” In my life coaching practice, I talk about focusing on what we want, not on what we don’t want. With the law of attraction some people claim that the Universe cannot hear words that focus on lack—so words like “no” or “don’t” are ignored by the Universe. However, those words can have power over us…because if we focus on lack we will get more of what we focus upon.
So when we say things like I don’t want to be fat, I don’t want to be poor, or I don’t want to be alone—the universe negates those words we send out—and in this case, it erases the word don’t. So the Universe, only hears you saying I want to be fat, I want to be poor, I want to be alone and will continue to send out that energy to you.
That’s why E.E. Cummings quote was so profound for me. It reminded me about the power of our word choice, and it got me thinking about babies. Have you ever heard a baby who only says “no.” It makes you really think about how you speak to your children. Kathryn Perrotti Leavitt from American Baby wrote an article about how to discipline your baby better during certain ages in their life rather than by using the word “no.”
“From birth to 15 months you distract the baby from the forbidden toy or activity with a more appropriate one. From ages 12 months and up you utilize modeling by helping the child to do something more appropriate with a forbidden object. So if the child is hitting the kitty, you would show the child how to pet the kitty nicely. And from toddler and up you put their booty in time out.”
I spent a lot of time in time out myself. It helped to calm me down, but it was probably more for my mom so she didn’t murder me. In Ms. Leavitt’s article, she said something interesting. She said “of course, many of us merely say no when we catch our kids getting into mischief. Your child knows by the tone of your voice that "no" means something different from "I love you," but she doesn't understand the real meaning of the word.”
So we aren’t expressing love as much when we take the easier road of saying “no” to our children. And that’s what the Universe is trying to teach us as well. There are better ways to get what you want instead of focusing on the lack in your life. And like a baby who is wreaking havoc in your world, it’s not because your child is trying to test your patience, but it’s what Ms. Leavitt says is that your baby is exploring cause and effect.
And if we are like babies, we are throwing our words and actions around in our lives hoping for them to work someday, never really understanding that the Universe is modeling a way of life for us. It’s showing us a better way to focus and live…if only we stop trying to force things from focusing on what’s lacking, and instead learn to see the infinite power and abundance in our lives. And Mr. Cummings quote reminded me that when we lean more towards those lacking words that are easier to speak, we aren’t being as effective in our lives because those words are essentially lifeless.
I know it seems like I’m being anal when I correct people on how they speak, but when we focus on the power of abundance we allow more abundance in. When we say “yes” we are bringing life to ourselves. It’s not that we can’t ever say “no,” or “don’t,” or “can’t”…but maybe we can say better things. Maybe we can pivot away from focusing on why we can’t—to how we can, maybe we can focus away from what we don’t want—to what we do want, and maybe instead of saying no we can find things that we want to say yes to.
So, let’s try a few pivots in our thoughts and speech patterns…instead of saying I don’t want to be poor maybe we could say I allow abundance to flow freely and effortlessly into my life. Instead of saying I can’t, or it’s too hard to lose the weight; maybe we could say I was created healthy and I have the knowledge and wherewithal to let the health that’s already within me…out. Now, I know those are wordy affirmations. I was just thinking off the cuff, but what I wanted to display there is by saying “yes,” by focusing on abundance…it takes creativity. It takes a different thought process to not just stop at saying I want something or don’t want something, but also to allow ourselves to stop blocking the energy of abundance into our lives.
Because what we want is already within us, we just haven’t figured out a way to relax enough, to stop fighting ourselves. We’ve forgotten that the more we focus on the beliefs of why we can’t have something, or don’t deserve something, are behaviors that are teaching us about powerlessness in our lives. They are behaviors that teach us to close down instead of open up and allow the great gifts already within us out.
We are doing the equation backwards, hoping to gain something by focusing on our lack of something. Which traps us having to work harder every time thinking that what we want is outside of ourselves. I’m not saying there won’t be work involved. What I am saying is that freedom comes from a shift in consciousness; a shift of understanding our power differently—which is to focus less on the physical work and begin working from the inside out.
Because saying yes to life is an easy task, but it’s not a simple one. It’s a pathway of understanding and seeing how the Universe works. It’s a pathway of shutting our eyes off and letting go of our preconceived notions of how we think the physical world works. We’ve been conditioned to work harder if we aren’t getting what we want, but it’s not just about working harder…it’s about seeing things differently. Working smarter means seeing something more; seeing beyond the physical; and understanding for everytime we say no, can’t, don’t or any other lacking word that takes our power away we are laying waste to life. But when we are more creative and see abundance by saying yes to the things we want, then we are creating life. And as E.E. Cummings said that he “imagined” yes as the only living thing…we will be purposeful in doing more than imagining…as we deliberately utilize words that have higher vibrational energies that bring life into the world.
Today’s Personal Commitment:
Have a notepad by your side all day, or keep track on your phone in your notes app. Make a tally mark anytime that you say no, or focus on your lack in some way. The more we become aware of how much we focus on our lack then the more enlightened we’ll become. We’ll realize that we are more negative than we realized, and that will bring about change. I never thought I was a negative person, I was always saying how happy I was, or trying to brighten someone’s day…and then when I did a similar exercise…it really made me aware how I wasn’t as deliberate with focusing on happiness and abundance in my life like I thought I was. Which was showing me how I was creating lifelessness rather than life.
Once you become aware of all you are doing negatively, it’s not that you need to get rid of it, but it’s about knowing that change is only a subtle shift. So instead of getting upset at yourself, think about what a loving parent would do for you—they would model better behavior. So be your own best parent and model better thoughts, actions, and words that focus on your infinite abundance that the Universe has in store for you. What do you have to lose besides your old lifeless ineffective ways?
I Say Yes To Great Opportunities
Thanks for listening. I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn
Contact info- email: chris@strongwithin.com phone:865-219-3247
Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free