I was thinking of writing this blog post on Louise Hay’s 1984 self help book, You Can Heal Your Life. At the time of my first reading of this book, it was helpful in understanding that how we think has a huge impact on our lives, well-being and health and that our emotional, spiritual and physical selves are inseparable. When I revisited it to write this blog, I realised that my thinking has moved on from many of the assertions made by the author. I have since rejected the notion that we can heal ourselves of every serious ailment simply through affirmations and positive thinking. I do not reject that we have emotional work to do, neither do I reject that negative self talk will only increase pain; I do not reject that we need high levels of good vibrations in our lives to keep healthy immune systems; I do not reject that we need to love and accept ourselves, imperfect though we be; nor do I reject that we have erroneous thinking patterns that need to be rectified BUT and this is a BIG BUT, life experience has taught me that many healthy, happy, beautiful people suffer, they struggle with ill health and have all sorts of imperfect lives, they have cancer, they die young and in many cases all the affirmations in the world do not remove that burden, they simply learn how to live and love graciously within their circumstances. In my understanding, that is the better victory.
However I am very interested in living life purposefully and positively and there are positive actions which can be taken to keep focus on the blessings of life regardless of the difficulties. One such focus is an attitude of gratitude. Gratitude for every circumstance will change your life for the better. So I introduce The FIVE MINUTE JOURNAL. The five minute journal begins each day with an inspirational quote
then has space for
3 things I am grateful for today
3 things that would make today great
then follows a couple of lines to record your Daily affirmations
These are written in the morning. At the end of the day there is space to record 3 AMAZING things that happened today and then a small section for reflection on How could I have made today better?
You can visit http://www.fiveminutejournal.com to learn more about the book.
These are all quite simple but proven strategies; the important thing is to get your ideas down on paper so that they are ‘front of mind’ and the more gratitude is front of mind the more you will find abundant blessings. I recommend this strategy to “heal” your life. Thank you RAD for this very thoughtful and helpful gift.
PS. Louise Hay’s book, You Can Heal Your Life is still a worthwhile read but as with all books written by fallible human authors, take what fits and leave the rest.
Way leads onto Way 