Louise L. Hay
Louise Hay Is a metaphysical lecturer and teacher, and the best selling author of 27 books. Her books, tapes and work have touched millions of lives.
For me, Louise L. Hay is a living Saint! It was more than 10 years ago that I attended a "Love yourself, Heal your Life" workshop.. and learnt about how to take responsibility for my feelings, thoughts and actions! I eventually qualified as a teacher in the methods of Louise L. Hay and ran workshops using her materials. Not a day goes by that doesn't have me referencing Louise in some way. What I learned from Louise, is EVERYTHING.
Much of Louise's writing focuses on the metaphysics of the human mind and body, particularly the relationship between "dis-ease" in the mind and dis-ease in the body.
Her two most well known books "Heal Your Body" and "You Can Heal Your Life" directly associate physical problems such as cancer with specific negative emotional patterns, and make the claim that healing the emotional components will also heal the physical conditions.
In the 1970s, after several years of counseling work, Louise compiled a reference guide outlining the mental components of many physical ailments. Her book, Heal Your Body, offered positive thought patterns for encouraging health. Louise was able to put her philosophies into practice when she was diagnosed with cancer. She developed an intensive program of affirmations, visualization, nutritional cleansing and psychotherapy. Within six months, she was completely healed of cancer. She continues to develop and publish materials on the process of inner healing.
An excerpt from "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise L. Hay
Life is Really Very Simple. What We Give Out, We Get Back
"What we think about ourselves becomes the truth for us. I believe that everyone, myself included, is responsible for everything in our lives, the best and the worst. Every thought we think is creating our future. Each one of us creates our experiences by our thoughts and our feelings. The thoughts we think and the words we speak create our experiences.
We create the situations, and then we give our power away by blaming the other person for our frustration. No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for "we" are the only thinkers in it. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.
Which of these statements sounds like you?
"People are out to get me."
"Everyone is always helpful."
Each one of these beliefs will create quite different experiences. What we believe about ourselves and about life becomes true for us.
The Universe Totally Supports Us in Every Thought We Choose to Think and Believe
Put another way, our subconscious mind accepts whatever we choose to believe. They both mean that what I believe about myself and about life becomes true for me. What you choose to think about yourself and about life becomes true for you. And we have unlimited choices about what we can think.
When we know this, then it makes sense to choose "Everyone is always helpful," rather than "People are out to get me."
The Universal Power Never Judges or Criticises Us
It only accepts us at our own value. Then it reflects our beliefs in our lives. If I want to believe that life is lonely and that nobody loves me, then that is what I will find in my world.
However, if I am willing to release that belief and to affirm for myself that "Love is everywhere, and I am loving and lovable," and to hold on to that new affirmation and to repeat it often, then it will become true for me. Now, loving people will come into my life, the people already in my life will become more loving to me, and I will find myself easily expressing love to others.
Most of Us Have Foolish Ideas about Who We Are and Many, Many Rigid Rules about How Life Ought to Be Lived
This is not to condemn us, for each of us is doing the very best we can at this very moment. If we knew better, if we had more understanding and awareness, then we would do it differently. Please don't put yourself down for being where you are. The very fact that you have found this book and have discovered me means that you are ready to make a new, positive change in your life. Acknowledge yourself for this. "Men don't cry!" "Women can't handle money!" What limiting ideas to live with.
When We Are Very Little, We Learn How to Feel about Ourselves and about Life by the Reactions of the Adults Around Us
It is the way we learn what to think about ourselves and about our world. Now, if you lived with people who were very unhappy, frightened, guilty, or angry, then you learned a lot of negative things about yourself and about your world.
"I never do anything right." "Its my fault." "If I get angry, I'm a bad person."
Beliefs like this create a frustrating life.
When We Grow Up, We Have a Tendency to Recreate the Emotional Environment of Our Early Home Life
This is not good or bad, right or wrong; it is just what we know inside as "home." We also tend to recreate in our personal relationships the relationships we had with our mothers or with our fathers, or what they had between them. Think how often you have had a lover or a boss who was "just like" your mother or father.
We also treat ourselves the way our parents treated us. We scold and punish ourselves in the same way. You can almost hear the words when you listen. We also love and encourage ourselves in the same way, if we were loved and encouraged as children.
"You never do anything right." "It's all your fault." How often have you said this to yourself?
"You are wonderful." "I love you." How often do you tell yourself this?
However, I Would Not Blame Our Parents for This
We are all victims of victims, and they could not possibly have taught us anything they did not know. If your mother did not know how to love herself, or your father did not know how to love himself, then it would be impossible for them to teach you to love yourself.
They were doing the best they could with what they had been taught as children. If you want to understand your parents more, get them to talk about their own childhood; and if you listen with compassion, you will learn where their fears and rigid patterns come from. Those people who "did all that stuff to you" were just as frightened and scared as you are.
I Believe That We Choose Our Parents
Each one of us decides to incarnate upon this planet at a particular point in time and space. We have chosen to come here to learn a particular lesson that will advance us upon our spiritual, evolutionary pathway. We choose our sex, our color, our country, and then we look around for the particular set of parents who will mirror the pat-tern we are bringing in to work on in this lifetime. Then, when we grow up, we usually point our fingers accusingly at our parents and whimper, "You did it to me." But really, we chose them because they were perfect for what we wanted to work on overcoming.
We learn our belief systems as very little children, and then we move through life creating experiences to match our beliefs. Look back in your own life and notice how often you have gone through the same experience. Well, I believe you created those experiences over and over because they mirrored something you believed about yourself. It doesn't really matter how long we have had a problem, or how big it is, or how life-threatening it is.
The Point of Power Is Always in the Present Moment
All the events you have experienced in your lifetime up to. this moment have been created by your thoughts and beliefs you have held in the past. They were created by the thoughts and words you used yesterday, last week, last month, last year, 10, 20, 30, 40, or more years ago, depending on how old you are.
However, that is your past. It is over and done with. What is important in this moment is what you are choosing to think and believe and say right now. For these thoughts and words will create your future. Your point of power is in the present moment and forming the experience of tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and so on.
You might notice what thought you are thinking at this moment. Is it negative or positive? Do you want this thought to be creating your future? Just notice and be aware.
The Only Thing We Are Ever Dealing With Is a Thought, and a Thought Can Be Changed
No matter what the problem is, our experiences are just outer effects of inner thoughts. Even self-hatred is only hating a thought you have about yourself. You have a thought that says, "I'm a bad person." This thought produces a feeling, and you buy into the feeling. However, if you don't have the thought, you wont have the feeling. And thoughts can be changed. Change the thought, and the feeling must go.
This is only to show us where we get many of our beliefs. But let's not use this information as an excuse to stay stuck in our pain. The past has no power over us. It doesn't matter how long we have had a negative pattern. The point of power is in the present moment. What a wonderful thing to realize! We can begin to be free in this moment!
Believe it or Not, We Do Choose our Thoughts
We may habitually think the same thought over and over so that it does not seem we are choosing the thought. But we did make the original choice. We can refuse to think certain thoughts. Look how often you have refused to think a positive thought about yourself. Well, you can also refuse to think a negative thought about yourself.
It seems to me that everyone on this planet whom I know or have worked with is suffering from self-hatred and guilt to one degree or another. The more self-hatred and guilt we have, the less our lives work. The less self-hatred and guilt we have, the better our lives work, on all levels.
An excerpt from "The Power Is Within You" by Louise L. Hay
Who are you? Why are you here? What are your beliefs about life? For thousands of years, finding the answers to these questions has meant going within. But what does that mean?
I believe there is a Power within each of us that can lovingly direct us to our perfect health, perfect relationships, perfect careers, and which can bring us prosperity of every kind. In order to have these things, we have to believe first that they are possible. Next, we must be willing to release the patterns in our lives that are creating conditions we say we do not want. We do this by going within and tapping the Inner Power that already knows what is best for us. If we are willing to turn our lives over to this greater Power within us, the Power that loves and sustains us, we can create more loving and prosperous lives.
I believe that our minds are always connected to the One Infinite Mind, and therefore, all knowledge and wisdom is available to us at any time. We are connected to this Infinite Mind, this Universal Power that created us, through that spark of light within, our Higher Self, or the Power within. The Universal Power loves all of Its creations. It is a Power for good and It directs everything in our lives. It doesn't know how to hate or lie or punish. It is pure love, freedom, understanding, and compassion. It is important to turn our lives over to our Higher Self, because through It we receive our good.
We must understand that we have the choice to use this Power in any way. If we choose to live in the past and re-hash all of the negative situations and conditions that went on way back when, then we stay stuck where we are. If we make a conscious decision not to be victims of the past and go about creating new lives for ourselves, we are supported by this Power within, and new, happier experiences begin to unfold. I don't believe in two powers. I think there is One Infinite Spirit. It's all too easy to say, "It's the devil," or them. It really is only us, and either we use the power we have wisely or we misuse the power. Do we have the devil in our hearts? Do we condemn others for being different than we are? What are we choosing?
Responsibility Vs. Blame
I also believe that we contribute toward the creation of every condition in our lives, good or bad, with our thinking, feeling patterns. The thoughts we think create our feelings, and we then begin to live our lives in accordance with these feelings and beliefs. This is not to blame our-selves for things going wrong in our lives. There is a difference between being responsible and blaming ourselves or others.
When I talk about responsibility, I am really talking about having power. Blame is about giving away one's power. Responsibility gives us the power to make changes in our lives. If we play the victim role, then we are using our personal power to be helpless. If we decide to accept responsibility then we don't waste time blaming somebody or something out there. Some people feel guilty for creating illness, or poverty, or problems. They choose to interpret responsibility as guilt. (Some members of the media like to refer to it as New Age Guilt.) These people feel guilty because they believe that they have failed in some way. However, they usually accept everything as a guilt trip in one way or another because it's another way to make themselves wrong. That is not what I'm talking about.
If we can use our problems and illnesses as opportunities to think about how we can change our lives, we have power. Many people who come through catastrophic illness say that it was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to them because it gave them a chance to go about their lives differently. A lot of people, on the other hand, go around saying, "I'm a victim, woe is me. Please.doctor, fix me." I think these people will have a difficult time even getting well or handling their problems.
Responsibility is our ability to respond to a situation. We always have a choice. It does not mean that we deny who we are and what we have in our lives. It merely means that we can acknowledge that we have contributed to where we are. By taking responsibility, we have the power to change. We can say, "What can I do to make this different?" We need to understand that we all have personal power all the time. It depends on how we use it.
Many of us are now realizing that we come from dysfunctional homes. We carry over a lot of negative feelings about who we are and our relationship to life. My child-hood was filled with violence, including sexual abuse. I was starved for love and affection and had no self-esteem at all. Even after leaving home at the age of 15, I continued to experience abuse in many forms. I hadn't yet realized that the thinking, feeling patterns I had learned early in life had brought this abuse upon me.
Children often respond to the mental atmosphere of the adults around them. So I learned early about fear and abuse and continued to recreate those experiences for my-self as I grew up. I certainly didn't understand that I had the power to change all of this. I was unmercifully hard on myself because I interpreted lack of love and affection to mean I must be a bad person.
All of the events you have experienced in your lifetime up to this moment have been created by your thoughts and beliefs from the past. Lees not look back on our lives with shame. Look at the past as part of the richness and fullness of your life. Without this richness and fullness, we would not be here today. There is no reason to beat yourself up because you didn't do better. You did the best you knew how. Release the past in love, and be grateful that it has brought you to this new awareness.
The past only exists in our minds and in the way we choose to look at it in our minds. This is the moment we are living. This is the moment we are feeling. This is the moment we are experiencing. What we are doing right now is laying the groundwork for tomorrow. So this is the moment to make the decision. We can't do anything tomorrow and we can't do it yesterday. We can only do it today. What is important is what we are choosing to think, believe, and say right now.
When we begin to take conscious charge of our thoughts and words, then we have tools that we can use. I know this sounds simple, but remember, the point of power is always in the present moment.
It is important for you to understand that your mind is not in control. You are in control of your mind. The Higher Self is in control. You can stop thinking those old thoughts. When your old thinking tries to come back and say, "It's so hard to change," take mental command. Say to your mind, "I now choose to believe it is becoming easy for me to make changes." you may have this conversation with your mind several times before it acknowledges that you are in charge and that you really mean what you say.
Imagine that your thoughts are like drops of water. One thought or one drop of water does not mean very much. As you repeat thoughts over and over, you first notice a stain on the carpet, then there is a little puddle, then a pond, and as these thoughts continue, they can become a lake, and finally an ocean. What kind of ocean are you creating? One that is polluted and toxic and unfit to swim in, or one that is crystal clear and blue and invites you to enjoy its refreshing waters?
People often tell me, "I can't stop thinking a thought." I always reply, "Yes, you can." Remember, how often have you refused to think a positive thought? You just have to tell your mind that that is what you are going to do. You have to make up your mind to stop thinking negatively. I'm not saying that you have to fight your thoughts when you want to change things. When the negative thoughts come up, simply say, "Thank you for sharing." In that way, you are not denying what is there, and you are not giving your power over to the negative thought. Tell yourself that you are not going to buy into the negativity anymore. You want to create another way of thinking. Again, you don't have to fight your thoughts. Acknowledge and go beyond them. Don't drown in a sea of your own negativity, when you can float on the ocean of life.
You are meant to be a wonderful, loving expression of life. Life is waiting for you to open up to it--to feel worthy of the good it holds for you. The wisdom and intelligence of the Universe is yours to use. Life is here to support you. Trust the Power within you to be there for you.
How to Love Yourself by Louise Hay
This article was excerpted from
"Love Yourself: Heal Your Life Workbook" by Louise Hay.
STOP ALL
DON'T SCARE YOURSELF. Stop terrorizing yourself with your thoughts. It's a dreadful way to live. Find a mental image that gives you pleasure (mine is yellow roses), and immediately switch your scary thought to a pleasure thought.
BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF as you learn the new ways of thinking. Treat yourself as you would someone you really loved.
BE KIND MIND
PRAISE YOURSELF. Criticism breaks down the inner spirit. Praise builds it up. Praise yourself as much as you can. Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing.
SUPPORT YOURSELF. Find ways to support yourself. Reach out to friends and allow them to help you. It is being strong to ask for help when you need it.
BE LOVING TO YOUR NEGATIVES. Acknowledge that you created them to fulfill a need. Now you are finding new, positive ways to fulfill those needs. So lovingly release the old negative patterns.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY. Learn about nutrition. What kind of fuel does your body need to have optimum energy and vitality? Learn about exercise. What kind of exercise can you enjoy? Cherish and revere the temple you live in.
MIRROR WORK
LOVE YOURSELF... DO IT NOW. Don't wait until you get well, or lose the weight, or get the new job, or the new relationship. Begin now - and do the best you can.
If you don't have any of Louise's book, I definately encourage you buy at least one or get it from your library. The one to start with is "You Can Heal Your Life." Check the reviews on Amazon!
Louise L. Hay
Louise Hay Is a metaphysical lecturer and teacher, and the best selling author of 27 books. Her books, tapes and work have touched millions of lives.
For me, Louise L. Hay is a living Saint! It was more than 10 years ago that I attended a "Love yourself, Heal your Life" workshop.. and learnt about how to take responsibility for my feelings, thoughts and actions! I eventually qualified as a teacher in the methods of Louise L. Hay and ran workshops using her materials. Not a day goes by that doesn't have me referencing Louise in some way. What I learned from Louise, is EVERYTHING.
Much of Louise's writing focuses on the metaphysics of the human mind and body, particularly the relationship between "dis-ease" in the mind and dis-ease in the body.
Her two most well known books "Heal Your Body" and "You Can Heal Your Life" directly associate physical problems such as cancer with specific negative emotional patterns, and make the claim that healing the emotional components will also heal the physical conditions.
In the 1970s, after several years of counseling work, Louise compiled a reference guide outlining the mental components of many physical ailments. Her book, Heal Your Body, offered positive thought patterns for encouraging health. Louise was able to put her philosophies into practice when she was diagnosed with cancer. She developed an intensive program of affirmations, visualization, nutritional cleansing and psychotherapy. Within six months, she was completely healed of cancer. She continues to develop and publish materials on the process of inner healing.
An excerpt from "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise L. Hay
Life is Really Very Simple. What We Give Out, We Get Back
"What we think about ourselves becomes the truth for us. I believe that everyone, myself included, is responsible for everything in our lives, the best and the worst. Every thought we think is creating our future. Each one of us creates our experiences by our thoughts and our feelings. The thoughts we think and the words we speak create our experiences.
We create the situations, and then we give our power away by blaming the other person for our frustration. No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for "we" are the only thinkers in it. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.
Which of these statements sounds like you?
"People are out to get me."
"Everyone is always helpful."
Each one of these beliefs will create quite different experiences. What we believe about ourselves and about life becomes true for us.
The Universe Totally Supports Us in Every Thought We Choose to Think and Believe
Put another way, our subconscious mind accepts whatever we choose to believe. They both mean that what I believe about myself and about life becomes true for me. What you choose to think about yourself and about life becomes true for you. And we have unlimited choices about what we can think.
When we know this, then it makes sense to choose "Everyone is always helpful," rather than "People are out to get me."
The Universal Power Never Judges or Criticises Us
It only accepts us at our own value. Then it reflects our beliefs in our lives. If I want to believe that life is lonely and that nobody loves me, then that is what I will find in my world.
However, if I am willing to release that belief and to affirm for myself that "Love is everywhere, and I am loving and lovable," and to hold on to that new affirmation and to repeat it often, then it will become true for me. Now, loving people will come into my life, the people already in my life will become more loving to me, and I will find myself easily expressing love to others.
Most of Us Have Foolish Ideas about Who We Are and Many, Many Rigid Rules about How Life Ought to Be Lived
This is not to condemn us, for each of us is doing the very best we can at this very moment. If we knew better, if we had more understanding and awareness, then we would do it differently. Please don't put yourself down for being where you are. The very fact that you have found this book and have discovered me means that you are ready to make a new, positive change in your life. Acknowledge yourself for this. "Men don't cry!" "Women can't handle money!" What limiting ideas to live with.
When We Are Very Little, We Learn How to Feel about Ourselves and about Life by the Reactions of the Adults Around Us
It is the way we learn what to think about ourselves and about our world. Now, if you lived with people who were very unhappy, frightened, guilty, or angry, then you learned a lot of negative things about yourself and about your world.
"I never do anything right." "Its my fault." "If I get angry, I'm a bad person."
Beliefs like this create a frustrating life.
When We Grow Up, We Have a Tendency to Recreate the Emotional Environment of Our Early Home Life
This is not good or bad, right or wrong; it is just what we know inside as "home." We also tend to recreate in our personal relationships the relationships we had with our mothers or with our fathers, or what they had between them. Think how often you have had a lover or a boss who was "just like" your mother or father.
We also treat ourselves the way our parents treated us. We scold and punish ourselves in the same way. You can almost hear the words when you listen. We also love and encourage ourselves in the same way, if we were loved and encouraged as children.
"You never do anything right." "It's all your fault." How often have you said this to yourself?
"You are wonderful." "I love you." How often do you tell yourself this?
However, I Would Not Blame Our Parents for This
We are all victims of victims, and they could not possibly have taught us anything they did not know. If your mother did not know how to love herself, or your father did not know how to love himself, then it would be impossible for them to teach you to love yourself.
They were doing the best they could with what they had been taught as children. If you want to understand your parents more, get them to talk about their own childhood; and if you listen with compassion, you will learn where their fears and rigid patterns come from. Those people who "did all that stuff to you" were just as frightened and scared as you are.
I Believe That We Choose Our Parents
Each one of us decides to incarnate upon this planet at a particular point in time and space. We have chosen to come here to learn a particular lesson that will advance us upon our spiritual, evolutionary pathway. We choose our sex, our color, our country, and then we look around for the particular set of parents who will mirror the pat-tern we are bringing in to work on in this lifetime. Then, when we grow up, we usually point our fingers accusingly at our parents and whimper, "You did it to me." But really, we chose them because they were perfect for what we wanted to work on overcoming.
We learn our belief systems as very little children, and then we move through life creating experiences to match our beliefs. Look back in your own life and notice how often you have gone through the same experience. Well, I believe you created those experiences over and over because they mirrored something you believed about yourself. It doesn't really matter how long we have had a problem, or how big it is, or how life-threatening it is.
The Point of Power Is Always in the Present Moment
All the events you have experienced in your lifetime up to. this moment have been created by your thoughts and beliefs you have held in the past. They were created by the thoughts and words you used yesterday, last week, last month, last year, 10, 20, 30, 40, or more years ago, depending on how old you are.
However, that is your past. It is over and done with. What is important in this moment is what you are choosing to think and believe and say right now. For these thoughts and words will create your future. Your point of power is in the present moment and forming the experience of tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and so on.
You might notice what thought you are thinking at this moment. Is it negative or positive? Do you want this thought to be creating your future? Just notice and be aware.
The Only Thing We Are Ever Dealing With Is a Thought, and a Thought Can Be Changed
No matter what the problem is, our experiences are just outer effects of inner thoughts. Even self-hatred is only hating a thought you have about yourself. You have a thought that says, "I'm a bad person." This thought produces a feeling, and you buy into the feeling. However, if you don't have the thought, you wont have the feeling. And thoughts can be changed. Change the thought, and the feeling must go.
This is only to show us where we get many of our beliefs. But let's not use this information as an excuse to stay stuck in our pain. The past has no power over us. It doesn't matter how long we have had a negative pattern. The point of power is in the present moment. What a wonderful thing to realize! We can begin to be free in this moment!
Believe it or Not, We Do Choose our Thoughts
We may habitually think the same thought over and over so that it does not seem we are choosing the thought. But we did make the original choice. We can refuse to think certain thoughts. Look how often you have refused to think a positive thought about yourself. Well, you can also refuse to think a negative thought about yourself.
It seems to me that everyone on this planet whom I know or have worked with is suffering from self-hatred and guilt to one degree or another. The more self-hatred and guilt we have, the less our lives work. The less self-hatred and guilt we have, the better our lives work, on all levels.
An excerpt from "The Power Is Within You" by Louise L. Hay
Who are you? Why are you here? What are your beliefs about life? For thousands of years, finding the answers to these questions has meant going within. But what does that mean?
I believe there is a Power within each of us that can lovingly direct us to our perfect health, perfect relationships, perfect careers, and which can bring us prosperity of every kind. In order to have these things, we have to believe first that they are possible. Next, we must be willing to release the patterns in our lives that are creating conditions we say we do not want. We do this by going within and tapping the Inner Power that already knows what is best for us. If we are willing to turn our lives over to this greater Power within us, the Power that loves and sustains us, we can create more loving and prosperous lives.
I believe that our minds are always connected to the One Infinite Mind, and therefore, all knowledge and wisdom is available to us at any time. We are connected to this Infinite Mind, this Universal Power that created us, through that spark of light within, our Higher Self, or the Power within. The Universal Power loves all of Its creations. It is a Power for good and It directs everything in our lives. It doesn't know how to hate or lie or punish. It is pure love, freedom, understanding, and compassion. It is important to turn our lives over to our Higher Self, because through It we receive our good.
We must understand that we have the choice to use this Power in any way. If we choose to live in the past and re-hash all of the negative situations and conditions that went on way back when, then we stay stuck where we are. If we make a conscious decision not to be victims of the past and go about creating new lives for ourselves, we are supported by this Power within, and new, happier experiences begin to unfold. I don't believe in two powers. I think there is One Infinite Spirit. It's all too easy to say, "It's the devil," or them. It really is only us, and either we use the power we have wisely or we misuse the power. Do we have the devil in our hearts? Do we condemn others for being different than we are? What are we choosing?
Responsibility Vs. Blame
I also believe that we contribute toward the creation of every condition in our lives, good or bad, with our thinking, feeling patterns. The thoughts we think create our feelings, and we then begin to live our lives in accordance with these feelings and beliefs. This is not to blame our-selves for things going wrong in our lives. There is a difference between being responsible and blaming ourselves or others.
When I talk about responsibility, I am really talking about having power. Blame is about giving away one's power. Responsibility gives us the power to make changes in our lives. If we play the victim role, then we are using our personal power to be helpless. If we decide to accept responsibility then we don't waste time blaming somebody or something out there. Some people feel guilty for creating illness, or poverty, or problems. They choose to interpret responsibility as guilt. (Some members of the media like to refer to it as New Age Guilt.) These people feel guilty because they believe that they have failed in some way. However, they usually accept everything as a guilt trip in one way or another because it's another way to make themselves wrong. That is not what I'm talking about.
If we can use our problems and illnesses as opportunities to think about how we can change our lives, we have power. Many people who come through catastrophic illness say that it was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to them because it gave them a chance to go about their lives differently. A lot of people, on the other hand, go around saying, "I'm a victim, woe is me. Please.doctor, fix me." I think these people will have a difficult time even getting well or handling their problems.
Responsibility is our ability to respond to a situation. We always have a choice. It does not mean that we deny who we are and what we have in our lives. It merely means that we can acknowledge that we have contributed to where we are. By taking responsibility, we have the power to change. We can say, "What can I do to make this different?" We need to understand that we all have personal power all the time. It depends on how we use it.
Many of us are now realizing that we come from dysfunctional homes. We carry over a lot of negative feelings about who we are and our relationship to life. My child-hood was filled with violence, including sexual abuse. I was starved for love and affection and had no self-esteem at all. Even after leaving home at the age of 15, I continued to experience abuse in many forms. I hadn't yet realized that the thinking, feeling patterns I had learned early in life had brought this abuse upon me.
Children often respond to the mental atmosphere of the adults around them. So I learned early about fear and abuse and continued to recreate those experiences for my-self as I grew up. I certainly didn't understand that I had the power to change all of this. I was unmercifully hard on myself because I interpreted lack of love and affection to mean I must be a bad person.
All of the events you have experienced in your lifetime up to this moment have been created by your thoughts and beliefs from the past. Lees not look back on our lives with shame. Look at the past as part of the richness and fullness of your life. Without this richness and fullness, we would not be here today. There is no reason to beat yourself up because you didn't do better. You did the best you knew how. Release the past in love, and be grateful that it has brought you to this new awareness.
The past only exists in our minds and in the way we choose to look at it in our minds. This is the moment we are living. This is the moment we are feeling. This is the moment we are experiencing. What we are doing right now is laying the groundwork for tomorrow. So this is the moment to make the decision. We can't do anything tomorrow and we can't do it yesterday. We can only do it today. What is important is what we are choosing to think, believe, and say right now.
When we begin to take conscious charge of our thoughts and words, then we have tools that we can use. I know this sounds simple, but remember, the point of power is always in the present moment.
It is important for you to understand that your mind is not in control. You are in control of your mind. The Higher Self is in control. You can stop thinking those old thoughts. When your old thinking tries to come back and say, "It's so hard to change," take mental command. Say to your mind, "I now choose to believe it is becoming easy for me to make changes." you may have this conversation with your mind several times before it acknowledges that you are in charge and that you really mean what you say.
Imagine that your thoughts are like drops of water. One thought or one drop of water does not mean very much. As you repeat thoughts over and over, you first notice a stain on the carpet, then there is a little puddle, then a pond, and as these thoughts continue, they can become a lake, and finally an ocean. What kind of ocean are you creating? One that is polluted and toxic and unfit to swim in, or one that is crystal clear and blue and invites you to enjoy its refreshing waters?
People often tell me, "I can't stop thinking a thought." I always reply, "Yes, you can." Remember, how often have you refused to think a positive thought? You just have to tell your mind that that is what you are going to do. You have to make up your mind to stop thinking negatively. I'm not saying that you have to fight your thoughts when you want to change things. When the negative thoughts come up, simply say, "Thank you for sharing." In that way, you are not denying what is there, and you are not giving your power over to the negative thought. Tell yourself that you are not going to buy into the negativity anymore. You want to create another way of thinking. Again, you don't have to fight your thoughts. Acknowledge and go beyond them. Don't drown in a sea of your own negativity, when you can float on the ocean of life.
You are meant to be a wonderful, loving expression of life. Life is waiting for you to open up to it--to feel worthy of the good it holds for you. The wisdom and intelligence of the Universe is yours to use. Life is here to support you. Trust the Power within you to be there for you.
How to Love Yourself by Louise Hay
This article was excerpted from
"Love Yourself: Heal Your Life Workbook" by Louise Hay.
STOP
DON'T SCARE YOURSELF. Stop terrorizing yourself with your thoughts. It's a dreadful way to live. Find a mental image that gives you pleasure (mine is yellow roses), and immediately switch your scary thought to a pleasure thought.
BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF as you learn the new ways of thinking. Treat yourself as you would someone you really loved.
BE
PRAISE YOURSELF. Criticism breaks down the inner spirit. Praise builds it up. Praise yourself as much as you can. Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing.
SUPPORT YOURSELF. Find ways to support yourself. Reach out to friends and allow them to help you. It is being strong to ask for help when you need it.
BE LOVING TO YOUR NEGATIVES. Acknowledge that you created them to fulfill a need. Now you are finding new, positive ways to fulfill those needs. So lovingly release the old negative patterns.
TAKE
MIRROR
LOVE YOURSELF... DO IT NOW. Don't wait until you get well, or lose the weight, or get the new job, or the new relationship. Begin now - and do the best you can.
If you don't have any of Louise's book, I definately encourage you buy at least one or get it from your library. The one to start with is "You Can Heal Your Life." Check the reviews on Amazon!