I Am

The words we think and say carry a lot of power, yet we tend to think and speak carelessly. This is especially true for the words “I am”.

“Your words become your world.”

Nadeem Kazi

“I am sick of this. I’m so clumsy. I am so stressed. I’m tired of (fill in the blank.) I am stupid/not smart enough/not good enough. I’m broke/living hand to mouth. I am stuck (in this situation). I’m too busy to have fun/follow that dream.” And the list of negative statements goes on and on. Then we wonder why we’re often picking up the next virus, or always feeling tired, frustrated, and afraid, and constantly worried about money.

If we were to really pay attention to what we are projecting out into the world with our thoughts and words, I mean really pay attention to them, we might be surprised by how often we belittle ourselves and others, and just generally express a negative outlook on life; basically, life sucks, then you die kind of stuff.

“Your word is the power that you have to create; it is a gift.”

Don Miguel Ruiz

But what if we were to give ourselves a bit of an intervention and try a little experiment? What if took responsibility for our thoughts and words and we made the conscious effort to mindfully speak and think? What if we reframed those statements in positive, life affirming and self-affirming ways?

Instead of “I’m sick of this” we can restate it as “I am ready for a change for the better.” We can replace “I am stupid/not smart enough/not good enough” with “I am capable and deserving of achieving my goal.” And we can switch “I’m broke” with “I am committed to improving my financial situation.” We’re making gentle, truthful shifts from one perspective to the other, and as we continue to be aware of our thoughts and words, we will begin to notice an improvement in our state of mind, as well as our lives.

“If we understood the power of our thoughts, we would guard them more closely. If we understood the awesome power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative. In our thoughts and words, we create our own weaknesses and our own strengths. Our limitations and joys begin in our hearts. We can always replace negative with positive.”

Betty Eadie