I want to talk a little more about “the story” that goes through our minds.  The story we tell is powerful enough to dictate how we view the world.  I’m talking about the story we tell ourselves as well as the story we share with the world.  Our beliefs impact how we see ourselves as well as how we allow ourselves to be seen in the world.  It starts as simply as how we speak to ourselves and what we believe about who we are.  I thought I was pretty clear on who I was and I honestly considered it a fairly positive self-view.  It took me a long time to admit that sometimes what I thought were beliefs were merely words.  I would say it but I wouldn’t always live it.  I’d get frustrated that things weren’t happening merely because I said them.  And I realized what was missing was an indoctrination of belief behind the words.  I love affirmations.  Affirmations have the power to change us as long as we align our actions with the meaning behind them.

This came from another Jay Shetty meditation: Affirmation aligned with belief creates transformation.  In short, we need to have intention and understanding behind the words we say to ourselves. We have to take action from that place of belief rather than simply repeating things over and over again.  Repetition without sincere belief leads to circular arguments, often with ourselves.  But when we really dive in and believe in who we are and we step into that identity with complete trust and faith, we create the opportunity to live the life we’ve always dreamed of.  Sometimes the realization is that we’re already living the live we dreamed of in the simple things.  If you are able to support the lifestyle you want, then you’re more than halfway there—you’ve arrived.  Sometimes affirmations serve to shift our perspective.  Sometimes they serve to close the gap.

Energy flows where intention goes and the universe is often pretty straightforward on the emotion or the feeling we have behind a thought or action.  We can say the words but if what we do doesn’t match it, then we aren’t going to see the results.  The universe doesn’t know what to answer if we aren’t clear on what we are putting out.  Sometimes when things aren’t happening, it’s a sign to pause and gain some clarity.  It’s a sign to think about where we redirect our energy.  It’s also a sign to align our actions with our words.  If we are telling ourselves a story so often we believe it, the universe thinks that’s what’s happening.  We need to train our minds to see something else.  In some ways we need to clean up our act in order to open and receive what we say we want.

More importantly we have to believe in the things we say and the things we think.  When we pause to look at the amount of thoughts we have in a day we’d be amazed at how many are just the same rote thoughts over and over again, and we end up in the same place because we aren’t changing anything we are DOING.  But this still comes back to the story we tell ourselves first.  The universe can’t tell the difference between joking, just a thought, or a true desire through words alone, that is true, but when we say it enough we start to believe it.  Make sure what we say to ourselves sends out a positive vibration.  Make sure it’s authentic and aligned with the outcome we’re seeking.  The words are the base, the practice for building a foundation in what we experience.  Tell yourself a good story.