Life! By Design_ 6 Steps to an Extraordinary You - Laura Morton [77]
As I reflect on my life, I can honestly say that I’ve achieved everything I’ve affirmed for 90 to 120 days. I am a huge believer in setting forth your intentions by speaking about them in a positive way.
Although affirmations had become a part of my daily routine, they took on a whole new meaning the first time my wife announced we were pregnant. I thought, This is the ultimate opportunity to take my affirmations further, to give them all the power and impact they can have on my life. I wanted to create affirmation tapes for my unborn child to hear in the womb so he would develop with only positive reinforcement and unconditional love. So I wrote down all the positive statements I could think of in the present tense about my unborn son, his health, and what I wished for him after he was born. I set those affirmations to Baroque classical music and played it daily for the baby in my wife’s belly. I made statements including:
I love you.
You are my son.
You have a happy heart.
You have healthy lungs.
You have healthy organs.
You have a healthy liver.
I affirmed everything I could think of—except his eyes. Michael was a healthy baby, but he was diagnosed with strabismus, a vision problem in which the two eyes do not look at the same point at the same time. You may think I’m out of my mind for feeling guilty about my son’s condition, but I honestly feel that if I had affirmed that he be born with healthy eyes and would see with perfectly clear vision, he would not have had this condition. Thankfully, it was repairable. Two surgeries later, Michael can now see perfectly.
When my wife shared the good news that we were expecting again a couple of years later, I was a lot more intentional and specific in affirming this baby’s health. Steven was born perfectly healthy, with no medical issues.
The daily practice of making affirmations begins the process of unlocking the power of your subconscious mind.
I have a good friend with whom I share a lot of similar interests. We own a boat together and enjoy hanging out with our children. One day he overheard my oldest son talking to his son about a mutual friend the kids knew from school. My buddy’s son said he “hated that kid.” I have always taught my kids that “hate” is a powerful word that shouldn’t be used lightly. My son told the other little boy that he didn’t hate their friend—he loved him. Then he said, “I love myself, I love my daddy, I love school, I love learning, and I love you!” My son isn’t a geek or a nerd. He is a young man whose parents have instilled positive affirmations into his vernacular, which makes him different, but in a good way.
Later that evening, my friend approached me and said, “Dude, you’re brainwashing your kid.” My response was “You’re right. Better me than society—better me than SpongeBob!” My friend is a neurosurgeon; he does up to fifteen brain surgeries a week. He’s brilliant! And yet he hasn’t learned an important secret about the organ he operates on. If we continually plant doubt, lack, limitation, and fear in our minds, we don’t grow, succeed, and have healthy lives full of abundance and love.
Some of you might be thinking I’m filling my children’s minds with ideas and dreams they may never achieve, yet all dreams start with your thoughts and beliefs, which create the desire and courage to act. The sooner we can load a child’s brain with positive beliefs, the more successful that child will become. A child who believes that anything is possible has been given the greatest gift imaginable—the ability to dream big.
EXERCISE
Get a package of 150 cards and for the next thirty days write five positive, affirming statements about yourself—one statement on each card. Make sure your statements are in the present tense and are clear in intention. Say them out loud with confidence and conviction. Review