We will continue our discussion of the emotional realm of consciousness by delving into the topic of affirmation and the justification of our being.
Affirmation & Justification
Affirmation
“Affirmation is saying ‘yes’ to yourself and to the life you lead, and to accepting your own unique personhood.
That affirmation means that you declare your individuality.
Affirmation means that you embrace the life that is yours and flows through you.
Your affirmation of yourself is one of your greatest strengths.”1
Affirmation with Healthy Boundaries
“Affirmation means acceptance of your own miraculous complexity.
It means saying “yes” to your own being.
It means acquiescing to your reality as a spirit in flesh.
Within the framework of your own complexity, you have the right to say “no” to certain situations, to express your desires, to communicate your feelings.
If you do so, then in the great flow and sweep of your eternal reality there will be an overall current of love and creativity that carries you.
You do not have to say “yes” to people, issues, or events with which you are deeply disturbed.
Affirmation does not mean a bland wish-washy acceptance of anything that comes your way, regardless of your feelings about it.
You can affirm your uniqueness quite properly at times by saying “no”.
Individuality grants you the right of making decisions. In your terms this means saying “yes” or “no”.
By implication, to always acquiesce may very well mean that you are denying your own personhood.”2
Affirmation Means Health
“Biologically, affirmation means health.
You go along with your life, understanding that you form your experience, emphasizing your ability to do so.
Affirmation does not mean sitting back and saying “I can do nothing. It is all in Fate’s hands, therefore whatever happens, happens.”
Affirmation is based upon the realization that no other consciousness is the same as your own, that your abilities are uniquely yours and like no others. It is the acceptance of your individuality in flesh.
Basically it is a spiritual, psychic, and biological necessity, and represents your appreciation of your singular integrity.”3
Affirmation Means Acceptance
“Affirmation always involves the acknowledgment of your power in the present.
Affirmation is the acceptance of yourself in your present as the person that you are.
Within that acceptance you may find qualities that you wish you did not have, or habits that annoy you. You must not expect to be “perfect”.
Your ideas of perfection mean a state of fulfillment beyond which there is no future growth, and no such state exists.
Affirmation means the loving acceptance of your own unique individuality.
It may involve denial, where you refuse to accept the visions or dogmas of others in order to more clearly perceive and form your own.
Such affirmation will lead you to your own inner discoveries, and attract from the deepest portions of your being the particular kind of information, experience, or perception that you need.
The loving acceptance of yourself will allow you to ride through beliefs as you would through the changing characteristics of a countryside.
The more a belief encourages you to use your abilities and vitality, then the more affirmative it is.”4
Comparing Yourself to Others
“There is no human being alive who does not have creative abilities in his or her own way, achievements and excellent characteristics.
In your own uniqueness it is futile to compare yourself to others, for in so doing you try to emulate qualities that are theirs, and to that extent deny your own miraculous being and vision.
Once you begin comparing yourself to others there is no end to it.
You will always find someone more talented than you are in some way, and so will continue to be dissatisfied.
Instead, through working with your own beliefs, take it for granted that your life is important; begin with it where you are.
Do not deride yourself because you have not reached some great ideal, but start to use those talents that you have to the best of your ability, knowing that in them lies your own individual fulfillment.”5
Dealing with Negative Issues
“Do not get upset with yourself when you find yourself dwelling on negative issues in your life.
Instead, constructively ask yourself why you are doing so. The answer will come to you.
Use the knowledge as a bridge.
Let whatever emotions are involved happen.
If you do this honestly, feelings of self-worthlessness or despondency will go through and vanish, changing of their own accord.
You may even find yourself impatient with the feelings themselves or even bored and hence dismiss them.
Do not tell yourself automatically that they are wrong, and then try to apply a “positive” belief like a band-aid.
Have a sense of humor about yourself – not a malicious one but a kindly humorous regard for yourself.
High seriousness is fine when it comes naturally and is not forced. But it can become pompous if it is prolonged.”6
Justification of Your Existence
“There is no need to justify your existence.
You do not need to write or preach to justify yourselves, for instance.
Being is its own justification.
Only when you realize this can you begin to utilize your freedom.
Otherwise you try too hard.
If you become too determined to justify your existence then you will begin to close out areas of your life. Only those areas that mean safe justification to you will have meaning, and the others will begin to disappear.
You do not have to justify in any terms.
Now if you would each, for ten minutes a day, open yourselves to your own reality there would be no question of self-justification, for you would realize the miraculous nature of your own identity.
Various core beliefs may be built up to hide this inner insecurity and need to justify your existence.
You may “justify your life” by biological creativity, and then latch onto your children and never want to let them go.
You may use your career instead.
But in all cases you must come to grips with such unnecessary ideas, face the reality of your creaturehood, and see that you certainly have as much of a place in the universe as a squirrel, an ant or a leaf.
You do not question their right to exist. Why question your own?”7
Trust in Your Abilities
“Examine the literature that you read, the television programs that you watch, and tell yourself to ignore those indications given of the body’s weaknesses.
Tell yourself to ignore literature or programs that speak authoritatively about the species’ “killer instincts.”
Make an effort to free your intellect of such hampering beliefs.
Take a chance on your own abilities.
If you learn to trust your basic integrity as a person, then you will be able to assess your abilities clearly, neither exaggerating them or under-assessing them.
You will not feel the need, say, to “justify your existence” by exaggerating a particular gift, setting up the performance of one particular feat or art as a rigid ideal, when in fact you may be pleasantly gifted but not greatly enough endowed with a certain ability to give you the outstanding praise you think you might deserve.
On the other hand, there are many highly gifted people who continually put down their abilities, and are afraid to take one small step toward their expression.
If you accept the rightness of your life in the universe, then your ideals will be those in keeping with your nature.
They will be fairly easily given expression, so that they add to your own fulfillment and to the development of the society as well.”8
Statements of Affirmation
One: I will approve of myself, my characteristics, my abilities, my likes and dislikes, my inclinations and disinclinations, realizing that these form my unique individuality. They are given me for a reason.
Two: I will approve of and rejoice in my accomplishments, and I will be as vigorous in listing these—as rigorous in remembering them —as I have ever been in remembering and enumerating my failures or lacks of accomplishment.
Three: I will remember the creative framework of existence, in which I have my being. Therefore the possibilities, potentials, seeming miracles, and joyful spontaneity of Framework 2 will be in my mind, so that the doors to creative living are open.
Four: I will realize that the future is a probability. In terms of ordinary experience, nothing exists there yet. It is virgin territory, planted by my feelings and thoughts in the present. Therefore I will plant accomplishments and successes, and I will do this by remembering that nothing can exist in the future that I do not want to be there.
- Roberts, Jane, The Nature of Personal Reality, Amber-Allen Publishing, 1974
- ibid.
- ibid.
- ibid.
- ibid.
- ibid.
- ibid.
- ibid.
Recent Comments