I read the Secret many years ago by Rhonda Byrnes and I thought it helped alot with what I needed to eat to feel good with my body. I was 90 percent raw....pretty much where I am now.

However, I wonder if the power of affirmations are really just putting blinders on what reality is.

Thoughts?

I like affirmations... because it helps me keep my thought on the positive when they try to be ultra negative... plus if you say them enough they become your new reality... I think there is a lot of Good to them!!!

Love laugh and dream

Thanks. I think I agree... when I start not thinking positive, I get really sad and almost depressed.

Thinking positively is one of the best, most effective elixirs that I've ever experienced. Unfortunately, I feel like I've been programmed to be negative. Shifting to a more positive mind-state has been a struggle for me, but I've certainly made great strides.

Interesting. We can change our state of mind with thoughts. Experience can influence how we see things as well.

I tend to be so left sided, logical and practical. Not a fan of being overly optimistic, but I try my best to see the good in everything.

Takes practice and focus.

I think there can be an attachment to "positive" thoughts and it may elude the person as a result. Having an aversion to one thought over another tends to entrench it by making it more "real."

For instance, I have been in the presence of people who act "nice" but I feel "icky" around them. I know that they are dealing with trying to be positive but it's not really yet inside of them and their negative vibes are still seeping out.

Allowing thoughts without judging or clinging to them will cause them to subside eventually.

banana who Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think there can be an attachment to "positive"
> thoughts and it may elude the person as a result.
> Having an aversion to one thought over another
> tends to entrench it by making it more "real."
>
> For instance, I have been in the presence of
> people who act "nice" but I feel "icky" around
> them. I know that they are dealing with trying to
> be positive but it's not really yet inside of them
> and their negative vibes are still seeping out.
>
> Allowing thoughts without judging or clinging to
> them will cause them to subside eventually.


I get it. Those people I see all the time, and I can't help but to think" FAKE".

I think being unattached to anything helps to balance out. MEaning, no attachment to the good or bad. It is what it is.

However, I struggle sometimes to find the positive in something when I am facing the truth in specific situations. Does that make sense?

i think its extremely healthy to just accept whatever one feels including stress
and just be with that thought and simultaneously also just go INTO the state that one truly wishes to be in on a vibratory level

to not embrace the truth of how one feels and just rally towards its polar opposite IS fake

but to simply accept that that is how one feels and that is where they are at
is very healthy
and that will help one to then go towards the vibration they wish to go towards
but one has to start somewhere

the stars cannot shine
without embracing the mist of darkness
that it is cushioned upon

also compassion is important i think
but not compassion towards others
compassion towards oneself
and if one is compassionate towards oneself
then it naturally extends out to others
so forget others
just focus on self

like if one is feeling stressed
then to have compassion that that is how one feels
and its a good starting point

and stay in it for a while
and acknowledge the difficulty and the courage to be in that state
while trying to go towards a higher state

and then, i think that if one respects how one feels
and has compassion

then the spirit feels acknowledged and respected
and gifts the individual

by taking that person to a higher level

so that is what i was trying to say
before

LOL. There's no truth in how anyone feels. It's just your ego. I want to get as far away from that as possible. There's no courage or reward at the end of deliberately wallowing in that. You want to hang onto these emotions because you think that they make you who you are. Because you'll die without them. Wrong.

la_veronique Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> i think its extremely healthy to just accept
> whatever one feels including stress
> and just be with that thought and simultaneously
> also just go INTO the state that one truly wishes
> to be in on a vibratory level
>
> to not embrace the truth of how one feels and just
> rally towards its polar opposite IS fake
>
> but to simply accept that that is how one feels
> and that is where they are at
> is very healthy
> and that will help one to then go towards the
> vibration they wish to go towards
> but one has to start somewhere
>
> the stars cannot shine
> without embracing the mist of darkness
> that it is cushioned upon

HH, I understand what LaV is saying, though. Staying with a thought is not wallowing in it. Wallowing in your thoughts=feeling sorry for yourself=ego. Trying to be too cool for the room and totally spiritual (even though you're really upset)=ego.

The ego is a spoiled child. Observe the tantrum but don't get hooked into the drama.

I think we're talking about different types of negativity/positivity. Example of a conversation I had with a friend recently:

Friend: College was a waste of time.

Me: Why?

Friend: Because everything I learned there I could have learned on the job.

Me: Do you see anything positive in your college experience?

Friend: Outside of learning to avoid debt, no.

Me: This is what I see in your college experience: Every good friend you have today you met in college. This includes myself and your wife. Still think it was a waste of time?

Friend: No. I guess you're right.

In my first comment in this thread, the type of negative thinking that my friend displayed is something that I acknowledge that I also have to work on.
A lot of people are in this mindset where they're completely unable to see the good in anything. They don't even create delusions for the sake of happiness. They create them for negativity. Does that mean that they should never consider the possible negatives? No, but trying to uncover the very real positive is far from "fake." As a matter of fact, it's a search for the entire truth.

There's also science to be dealt with. A lot of people have neuro-chemical issues that place them in a depressive state 24/7. Chemical imbalances for example. This happens despite them having otherwise beautiful lives. Telling someone like that to ride the wave, the effort to get out of it is fake and lacks courage, etc. is not going to do the trick. They need to address the problem with action. I love the woo-woo, but there's a time and place for it. This is not one of them. If I'm depressed and my diet consists of Cheetos and Budweiser, should I simply go with the feeling, or should I take action? I should take action by changing my diet, starting an exercise program, doing meditation, getting my head checked, etc. Sorry, but I would never advise anyone in a negative place to just go with the feeling. We have free-will. We have some control over how we feel.

IMO, once a person has suffered enough, they'll do anything to not stay with a negative feeling. There's only so much to be learned. I have no understanding of this suffer, suffer, suffer mentality that permeates this forum. Fast until you drop. Suffer through negative emotions until they decide to go away. It makes no sense to me. This is 2012. Embrace the knowledge. Use the techniques. It's all at our finger-tips. Liberate yourself from the type of retrograde suffering that's glorified in outdated interpretations of old religious texts and which now operates as equally outdated 1960s style new-age poppycock.

I guess we're all on different paths and in different places.

So, this is about not being attached to the thoughts or actions of another person.

I had an epiphany today after this post which might explain where i was headed with this.

I keep saying being "positive" but what I really mean is looking at we do "have" versus what we "dont have" and this shifts our perspective and perhaps more optimistic but not sugar coating the situation. Money, material things are all so non important.... and when we focus on health, wisdom and peace, I think we all have what we really need in life.

Perhaps this is the minimalist in me who gets so tired of being around people who NEED this or that to be fulfilled.

HH

what i was mentioning was simply step one
you took step one to be step one through 10
step one is to simply say " this is how i feel"
then step two is "now that i feel this way, what can i do to feel the way i want to feel?"
this, then of course, entails action ( which you mentioned)
and action could be physical, mental and everything in between... creating a strategy and implementing it
while this is occurring, and one is improving, then... naturally feelings of excitement occur and gratitude more easily comes into fruition

step one is just simply acknowledging where one is at
it is the springboard where one leaps off of
without it
one is simply
falling into the water

and not being able to be catapulted and soar further
in other words

honesty is step one

from there, everything else follows

but without the honesty
it is like treading on thin ice
you could fall through any time
if you don't even know where you are at

and if you know where you are at in terms of how you feel
it simply clarifies where you want to go

also, have you ever shared something deeply troubling with a friend ( perhaps someone you love was in an accident, you lost your job, you broke up with someone you deeply cared about)

and they understood you
and let you cry on their shoulder?

then, afterwards
it seemed like
it was a lot easier to see the brighter side of it

that's all i am talking about

cry first
smile later

its just the natural order of things

if you can smile first... then ... by all means, go ahead

more power to you

but perhaps, to some, its easier to cry first sometimes
because it makes smiling a lot easier

some people can smile first and create and implement a strategy in a sustained consistent fashion

they are ... amazing people

and have miraculous powers of gratitude

much respect to people like that

they do exist ( exceedingly rare, but they do exist)

perhaps you are one of them