What I am reflecting?
Manifested Friday: The Words You Repeat Become You
Hey, readers of Manifested Friday.
Last night, I stood in front of my bathroom mirror and said something out loud to myself. “I trust the process of life. I am safe.”
It felt strange. Almost embarrassing, actually, saying something like that to my own reflection.
But I kept going, because I had just spent the afternoon going back through Louise Hay’s book, You Can Heal Your Life, and organising a whole list of affirmations into my notes.
I first read that book years ago. I picked it up again this week because I wanted to remind myself of something I think I had quietly forgotten: the words we repeat to ourselves are not just words. They are instructions.
Let me explain what I mean.
An affirmation, in its simplest form, is a short, present tense statement you say to yourself, again and again, until your mind starts to believe it. Not because saying it once makes it true. But because repetition is how the subconscious mind learns anything, whether it is a habit, a belief, or a fear.
Think about how a limiting belief gets formed in the first place. Nobody sits you down and teaches you “I am not good enough” in one lesson. It gets repeated. A comment here. A comparison there. Enough times, and it becomes the default program running quietly in the background.
Affirmations work the same way, just in reverse.
That is what struck me most, going through Louise Hay’s work this time. Her whole approach was that most of our struggles, physical and emotional, trace back to old patterns of self-criticism and guilt. And the way out is not some grand transformation. It is small, repeated, deliberate statements that slowly rewire what you believe about yourself.
I went through my notes and pulled out a few that stayed with me.
I love and approve of myself.
I trust the process of life. I am safe.
I am willing to change.
I forgive myself and I am free.
Nothing complicated. No jargon. Just short, honest sentences, said enough times that they start to sink in.
And here is the part that made me pause. She has a practice called mirror work, where you literally look yourself in the eye and say these things out loud. I always thought that sounded a little silly. Until I actually tried it last night, and felt how uncomfortable it was.
That discomfort told me something. If a simple sentence like “I love and approve of myself” feels hard to say to your own reflection, that is worth paying attention to.
The reason I’m sharing this with you today is because I don’t think affirmations are about positive thinking for the sake of it. I think they are a tool. A way of consciously choosing what gets repeated in your mind, instead of leaving it to default, to old wounds, to whatever voice got there first.
You don’t need to overhaul your whole day to try this. Pick one sentence. Say it in the morning. Say it again when a negative thought shows up and tries to take the wheel. Say it in the mirror, if you’re brave enough.
Give it a week. Not to prove anything to anyone. Just to see what starts to shift, quietly, underneath.
All right, until next time, may the rest of your life be the best of your life.
Quote I’m pondering
“You’ve been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” – Louise Hay
Affirmation I used
I trust the process of life. I am safe.