Sweet Home Chicago

A few weeks ago my Mother (who lives on the East coast) invited me to meet her in Chicago this past weekend. She had plans to fly in to town to attend a retirement party and thought it would be a fun place for us to meet up and spend some time together too. A former resident of Chi-town, I have been meaning to get back there for a few years now. I desperately wanted to go, yet did not have the $600 to blow on a ticket for a weekend getaway. I had some frequent flyer miles on Southwest Airlines but, due to the last minute planning, the seats were all booked. I was pretty bummed out, thinking Why do I even bother with these darn frequent flyer miles? I can never seem to redeem them when I want to go somewhere. I threw a short pity party and then remembered the experiment. Aha! This is as good of a time as any to put it to the test! So each day over the past week I said the affirmation "I am going to Chicago". I didn't know how it was going to happen, but I told myself that it would in fact be. They say you need to actually visualize that you are experiencing what it is you desire. So I imagined myself shopping, eating at all of my favorite restaurants and spending time with my Mom. As I went through my week I became more and more certain I was going to be there, even making plans to meet up with some old friends from the city. I checked the frequent flyer page daily and, sure enough, a flight opened up for me just two days before the weekend! I had a great weekend in Chicago and owe it to my positive thoughts!

Idiot?

I am starting to become much more aware of my thoughts throughout the day. There are times when my negative side gets the best of me and I start to say something self-deprecating, but then I actually catch myself and turn it around. Sometimes this is easy, but other times it’s a bit of a challenge, especially when I feel strongly about something. I was in my office and had a phone call with someone who had clearly not been listening to me. I had to repeat myself over and over again. When I hung up the phone I mumbled under my breath “What an idiot”. After I said it I realized that was not very Louise-Hay-like of me. This is where I struggle because I really did think that the woman I had just talked to on the phone was an idiot! So I am not really sure what one is to do in this sort of circumstance. Should I have tried to be more compassionate and said something like “she is not an idiot, she is preoccupied’? Does this even matter in the world of affirmations? Perhaps I only need to be positive when talking about myself? Some helpful advice would be much appreciated!

Battle of the Bed and Medusa's Evil Twin

Okay, are you excited? I hope so because I am! Did that sound positive enough?

Day one went better than planned. I must have been so excited about the experiment because I just couldn’t fall asleep last night. Okay, maybe it was the soda from later in the afternoon. Regardless, I only had about 5 hours of sleep (I require 9, prefer 11). I woke up very tired. Half dazed, I tried to think of a good excuse to call in late to work. Maybe I could say I didn’t feel well or I had a doctor’s appointment. I had a big day ahead of me and knew I would have a hard time functioning on such little sleep. It was in everyone’s best interest I get a few more hours of sleep. I need to do this for the TEAM. I reached for my phone, about to call my boss and then I remembered…today is the first day of the Affirmations Experiment. Aw man! Really? Are you kidding me? Maybe I can start the experiment tomorrow? Hmmm….nope tomorrow is a TUESDAY, you can’t start such a thing on a Tuesday, it goes against the law of starting things. So I put down my phone in submission and thought I can’t be too tired to get up, I have be positive. I would love to tell you that I jumped out of bed, but it was more of a slow crawl, the kind where your hands are on the floor and your legs are still intertwined in the sheets of the bed. In my contorted state I thought, this is as good of a time to start as any… so here it goes …I am wide awake, I am wide awake, I am wide awake. I said it a few more times until I finally broke free from the shackles of my sheets. It worked... well at least it worked at getting me completely out of bed.

I went about my morning getting ready for work. I fell asleep last night with wet hair, not a good look for someone with wavy unruly hair like mine. My first stop was the bathroom where I was greeted by Medusa’s evil twin in the mirror. The evil twin said “Oh man, you look horrible!” It was at that moment that I caught myself in the midst of negativity. I better turn this around, remembering that what you put out to the universe is what you are asking for. So I stared Medusa right in the eye and said slowly and unconvincingly “I l-o v-e you just the way you are”. There! I did it. At first it sounded ridiculous and felt completely awkward. As I said it I truly thought who would love someone who looks like this in the morning. I proceeded with saying the affirmation a few more times and actually started to feel a little bit better about the mess that was my hair. I even started to laugh as I said it. I understand that you need to say affirmations over and over again, like doing reps at the gym. I mustered a few more out and thought ok, that should be good enough for my first day. I am a beginner after all. I went off to work and was fine the rest of the day. In fact, it was not until I was writing this blog that I realized I hadn’t been tired all day long! How about them apples!

Welcome to My Personal Experiment with Affirmations

So… why write about affirmations? I am glad you asked! I am taking a class about Marketing Via New Media which includes the wonderful world of social media. During our last class I was given an assignment. Great! I love assignments, I am good at them, go ahead, bring it! The assignment: create a blog about anything. A blog? Panic sets in…what on earth am I going to write about? Let’s be honest, the only blog I have ever followed was “The Bachelor Recaps” (Ihategreenbeans.com). I love that blog and think Lincee is hilarious, but it’s hardly an education on blogging. I have been wracking my brain wondering what I could possibly write about. “I have nothing to write about… I’m boring… nobody will want to read about ME”! But then it hit me and I had an Aha Moment right in the midst of the aforementioned negative thoughts… I could write about being more positive and the practice of affirmations. Negative thoughts run through our minds on a daily basis and my mind is no exception. I have been a fan of Louise Hay, "The Mother of Affirmations", for about a year or two. I have read her amazing book, "You Can Heal Your Life" and have seen the movie of the same title. I am intrigued with the philosophy of affirmations, but I have never personally done more than read and hear about them. Practicing affirmations has been on the “To Do list” for some time now. Honestly, I have been meaning to get around to it, like a diet or exercise, but, um, I have been busy. So when faced with the challenge of creating a blog I thought this might make for an interesting experiment. I will set out to write about my foray into the world of positive affirmations and see if it does indeed make a positive impact on my life. Like all good diets and plans, I will start this on a Monday, which happens to be tomorrow. That’s right folks, one more night of bingeing on negative self-talk.