“To affirm anything is to state that it is so, and to maintain this as being true in the face of all evidence to the contrary. Repeating an affirmation is leading the mind to that state of consciousness where it accepts that which it wishes to believe.” ~ Ernest Holmes
It was Remembrance Day. A soldier was at an event, wearing his many medals of honour. A young man sidled up beside him and asked, “How did you do it? How did you find the courage to save the lives of your company? How were you able to walk into the line of fire, not fear for your own life, and carry men to safety? I can’t imagine!” The soldier looked to the young man and replied, “It’s in my training.”
I heard this story from a gentleman explaining the 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. He said it is amazing how well that program works… if you work it. The analogy is brilliant! I totally got it.
Think back to when you first learned to drive a car. When I passed my driving exam, my parents let me run an errand to the store.… There was so much to think about: “yellow light… ‘go’ or turn or?? Ahhh… a bus is driving right toward me!! Is my signal on? Left foot to brake…. NO, right foot to brake… ugh…. GO before the bus hits me!!!!” But now, when I go to the store (except for finding the fob, which I often forget) my mind is filled with so many other thoughts. All along the way… what groceries to buy, what he said or she said, what I am hungry for, that it looks like rain… my mind is pondering so many other things, that it doesn’t even know it is driving.
There are so many areas of our life where automaticity takes over and it is a good thing. It allows us to perform multiple tasks, to advance and improve, and to create all the ingenious inventions of humanity, by building on past experience. Automaticity is the ability to do things without occupying the mind. (I first learned about this concept in the book, Bright Line Eating, as introduced by Susan Pierce Thompson).
However, so many of us respond to life through trained triggers, which can be a less good thing. For instance, when I am stressed and want to reduce my anxiety, I eat. This way, my body is busy digesting instead of stressing. BUT, once I decide to stop this response, I then need to use all my personal will (and ‘turn it over to a higher power’, as they say in AA). In this way, I train myself away from the trigger reaction and create new auto responses, so that I no longer automatically turn to food as a de-stressor.
New Thought teacher, Emma Curtis Hopkins said, “I assure you that if you will focus all your mind to such a treatment as this, if you repeat it over and over, you will be so confident of the Good and the right coming forth victorious, that nothing can distract your attention at all.” She is telling us to make up our minds about the ‘Good’ we want to affirm in our lives, and to repeat this affirmation over and over. Say it often, and fast enough that old thoughts can’t penetrate this new thought… and we will achieve our desired results.
Ernest Holmes, author of The Science of Mind, wrote: “Repeated treatments induce, within consciousness, a definite concept of an already established truth, even though the fact may not have manifested.” In other words, even if we haven’t experienced our desired result yet, we are still setting the pathway to our vision. (Refer back to the Holmes quote at the top of the page…. We see what we believe! It’s true!!!)
Sigmund Freud, the first man to chart the unconscious, said that, “neurotic thought patterns will repeat themselves with monotonous regularity throughout life unless they are changed”.
Founder of Analytical Psychology, CG Jung, added to this the thought that we are subject to the influence of what he called “the collective unconscious”, which means the sum total of all human emotions from time immemorial.
If we don’t do our inner work and decide what we want our dominant thoughts to be, we will be under the influence of the world around us; social media, the news, gossip and the like. We either let the world decide our dominant thoughts or we do the work and create our own mind patterns… thus leading us to a completely different experience.
Émile Coué, a French psychologist and pharmacist in the 1800s, who introduced a popular method of psychotherapy and self-improvement based on optimistic autosuggestion, said that when the imagination and the will are in conflict, the imagination invariably wins. “Any suggestion must become auto-suggestion or self-realization before it can become effectual”. This is why he coined the phrase “Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better”, which was to be repeated so rapidly as to break down the self-conscious or intellectual barriers, and, in a sense, “hammer itself through to self-realization.”
We are selling our building. I very much believe that our community’s faith in Good, our leaning into Principle and The Practice, has brought us to this situation where we will realize a great profit.
The ‘outside world’, however, offers its static beliefs - which loosens doubt in my mind:“You should keep the building and leverage it”. “It doesn’t make business sense to sell it”. “You could make so much more money if…”
We didn’t buy this building to ‘make money’. We ARE making money because we live from Principle. We practice Truth teachings, and we know our success and abundance comes from Oneness with an Infinite Intelligence, not from the building itself. The building is just a conduit. When we sell the building, and as we continue to lean in to our Practice, we will find ourselves in another situation of success and abundance. This is the way IT works… from the inside out, not the outside in.
I can see how I have created automaticity in my thinking around this Truth. The ‘outside thoughts’ were as far from my thoughts as dust from the past. It took several comments before I actually heard them, after which I quickly said, “NO! My Good comes from an Infinite expanding and creative Universe that is limitless in Its potential. I am open to new and greater Good”.
I’d rather follow my heart than chase an ‘outside’ idea. I have practiced this method of living for a very long time and it has never let me down, so why would I have any doubt now? My heart, my faith and my practice always serves me. And so it is!
PRACTICE THE PRESENCE: Meditation (In Person - Outside) Sunday morning from 11:00 am - Noon PT An hour of guided meditation and a unique form of non-linear, yogic "dialogue" sharing, in inspiring locations that change each week. NEWCOMERS WELCOME. NO EXPERIENCE OR SPECIAL EQUIPMENT NECESSARY. The forecast is for clear(ish) skies and low winds on Sunday, we’re taking our practice back outside again this week. Sunday, Oct. 31st, we'll be at Rotary Beach Park, off the seawalk, in Campbell River. CLICK HERE to link to our website events page
CHANGE YOUR THINKING, CHANGE YOUR LIFE: Mindfulness Course 5 Monday evenings, starting Nov 02, 2021 from 6:30 - 8:30 pm (In-person & Online) Ready to shift your relationships, finances, health and more? This 5 session course is a great opportunity to re-focus before the end of the year, to finish off 2021 strong. (No pre-requisites required. GREAT FOR NEWCOMERS). Pre-registration is required - please visit our website to sign up. CLICK HERE to link to our website events page. ONLY 4 SLEEPS LEFT! PLEASE SHARE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE THIS COURSE WITH ANYONE WHOM YOU THINK WOULD BENEFIT FROM IT. IF THE CENTRE HAS INSPIRED YOU, HERE’S YOUR CHANCE TO PAY THAT INSPIRATION FORWARD. $125 exchange requested. (All proceeds go to charity) (Money back guarantee).
WYRD WOODLANDS: A FOREST FANTASY (In Person/ Outside) NOW SOLD OUT! Saturday Oct. 30th, from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm PT A strange and wondrous journey in the forest, after dark. Thank you to everyone who rushed to sign up for this event. The spaces are now filled. Keep your eyes open (check back to Facebook or the website often) for more seasonal events coming up in the next couple of months.
FALL FUNDRAISING RAFFLE: ENDS THIS WEEKEND!! Yvonne will still be selling raffle tickets until the end of the weekend (The draws will take place as of Nov 2nd, so time’s a tickin’) (Spread the word! There are beautiful prizes to be won… so, tell friends and family. Purchase a bunch of tickets and help charity, while getting yourself in line for a chance at some awesome holiday presents at the same time… winning all ‘round!) Contact admin@thecentrecr.org or Yvonne for more info about tickets
TRANSFORM Your Experience… PRACTICE
~ Where have you created automaticity in a way that serves your highest good?
~ List 5 examples, and let them be your reminder back to ‘self’ (your inner compass).
TRANSFORM Your Experience… ASK A PRACTITIONER
Dear Practitioner: What do you mean when you say, “We live in a universe of infinite possibility?” Answer: (We have moved Ask a Practitioner to a video format. Please check out our video with this week’s response on the Centre’s Facebook, Instagram or Twitter feeds). CLICK HERE to link to the video on Facebook. We now also have many of our episodes up on our YouTube Channel - please head over there to like, share and subscribe! Click Link here We welcome any questions you might like to submit for this segment, and, for extra uplift, a reminder that we offer free affirmations upon on request, through our Practitioner email: practitioner@thecentrecr.org. (We also offer one-on-one sessions for anyone who would like a more targeted support or coaching).
TRANSFORM Your Experience… SERVICE:
Volunteer: We are always in need of volunteers for this and that, and we are grateful to each and every one of you!! This week, kudos go out to our incredible Board of Trustees, who had to be extra available for meetings and oversight, with various things that came up. Your time, counsel and care is hugely appreciated! Also, to the random person/people who left heart warming affirmations on the windshields of everyone’s car on Wednesday evening! We don’t know who you are, but your ‘random act of kindness’ was appreciated by all who were the recipients of it.
We’re planning lots more activities and are always being creative about how to still offer uplifting programming, even with provincial restrictions in place. So, if you have any special skills you think might be of use, we’d love to hear about them! Simply contact the office (admin@thecentrecr.org). We’ll point you in the right direction.
Bright Ideas: How about some fun activity ideas? Got any of those that you’d like to share? Once again, our office is the best first point of contact: (admin@thecentrecr.org)
Get Social: We invite you to follow us on social media. Go ahead and share and comment on any of our posts that you enjoy, too! #TheCentreCR, #GetCentred and #UpliftLife. Please also check us out and subscribe to our Youtube Channel! Click here to visit
TRANSFORM Your Experience… ABUNDANCE IN ACTION
Charitable Giving: The Centre is a registered charity that is wholly sustained through the generosity of folks like you. Thank you! Your contributions mean that, even in the times we are in, we are still able to offer classes, events and individual support, and continue our practice of giving to other charities in need within our community as well. (For any donation of $25 or more, you will be issued a tax receipt, but every bit of generosity helps, no matter the amount or the form it comes in). CLICK HERE TO DONATE Reminder, too, that a Thrifty’s SMILE card can be used to donate to the Centre, as well as the empties you take to the Recycling Depot!
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