Positive Affirmation

While I was sitting in a model home working this morning, I looked in the drawer and one of the other agents had left a book entitled "The Secret". I have always hesitated to read this book, because my personal opinion is that it was taking gospel principles and twisting them. I have the gospel, why would I need "the secret"? But I figured there is no harm in at least reading a couple pages. I have been frustrated with myself with my lack of desire for reading a good book. I always start a book and never finish it, but I am sitting out here in the middle of nowhere for 6 hours on the Saturday of the "Big Game"... why not read a couple pages. I just read 38 pages and I think that what I read was interesting. I don't know that I necessarily am amazed by everything that I read, but it has helped me realize the necessity for positive affirmation.

I have always believed that the human brain is incredible tool and has more power than one can comprehend. I have also always believed that if one thinks positively about difficult things that more positive things can happen. Throughout life I think we can all relate to the fact that there are negative people and when we associate with those negative people we tend to be more negative as well. This has always fascinated me. I have never considered myself a negative person, but there have been times in my life where a negative person has had an influence on me and before you know it I am just as bad as they are. That one person, that one negative person had enough power to influence me so much that I became negative. How is this possible?

I think this is partly what the secret is. The purpose of the book is to bring to the readers attention the fact that we have the ability to change the universe in which we live and we have the ability to affect others as well. Is this new knowledge? No. But it is great to bring back to the forefront of my mind, because I have a need for positive affirmation in my own life. I know that I will be happier and will see more success if I do.

We have a dear friend named Jeff that is quite possibly the happiest, most positive person I know. He has always fascinated me. Every time we are around him we are happy, and we leave their place feeling like a million bucks. What a gift! This is a desire that I have. I want people to leave my home feeling like a million bucks! Can I do that? Yes. I need to tell myself I can and start to believe it. I think the more I focus on this very positive desire it will become a part of my life. This will then cross over to my business as well. I sell real estate. It is a great career for me because it is something that I genuinely have interest in. It comes naturally for me. The media likes to spread doom and gloom about the industry. I have chosen not to focus or dwell on the negative things the media is trying to shove down our throats. I chose to just think positively about it. Of course there are those days when not a soul comes into the model, when I have contacted all the people that I can contact and then it comes down to my own personal thoughts. I will be the first to admit that there are times when I let negative thoughts take over. My wife can attest to this, because I walk in the door with a frown on my face and a depressed demeanor. This is NOT me. This is not the person that she married. Now it is time to take control of my thoughts, and feelings and turn it around. Be positive and accomplish my dreams. REGARDLESS of what the rest of the world is saying. It can be difficult but I want to start this journey... today.

I have a couple more hours left in the model today. If no one comes in, I want to accomplish something. I want to fix myself. I am going to continue reading, I am sure I will have more thoughts and I will come and write them down when they come. Be back soon.

Back. It is now 1:20 PM... this book has helped my day go by quickly instead of constantly looking out the window hoping that someone would come in. So I continue reading "the secret" and I will first say, I don't agree with everything in this book. It conflicts with my beliefs. It basically puts ALL power into mans hands. I don't believe that man has ALL power.... I do believe though that we have more power than we give our selves credit for. But I do believe that God is the ultimate source of power... I can't just ask the "universe" for things. I need to ask God. But I think the point is this, the writers of the secret are trying to make this concept universal. For all people and all walks of life. So for some they may refer to this greater power as God, others will refer to it simply as "the universe" but whatever you call it... there is a great power and that greater power can help you achieve greatness.

There was a whole chapter on Gratitude. With Thanksgiving less than a week away I really found this chapter to be fitting, and figured it would be a good exercise for me to go through and write down the things that I am grateful for. Here we go...
1. I am grateful that I am alive. Not only in the physical sense, but in a spiritual sense as well. I FEEL alive. I am not just breathing. Does that make sense? It does to me and I am on the only reader/writer on this blog.
2. I am grateful for the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I realize the word, the gospel encompasses many things. But I am grateful for truth. Spiritual truth.
3. I am grateful for my wife Ashley. She came at the perfect time in my life and she brings me incredible amounts of joy. I love her smile and am grateful for her when she happy.
4. I am grateful for my one year old daughter Lily. The older she gets the more Love I have for her. She brightens my day and she is my biggest "secret shifter" if I am having negative thoughts it is easy to see a picture of her, or think about her and be happy. She is a doll and is one of the greatest reasons for my success in life.
5. I am grateful for the town home that we live in. I know that there aren't many people that have a home the size or quality of ours. I love coming home and I am grateful for the feelings of peace and love that I feel when I enter it.
6. I am grateful that I have been able to see the world. From the majority of the United States, to Europe and Asia. And I am grateful that I can continue to see the world throughout my life. What a blessing.
7. I am grateful for Christmas music. This is also a huge "secret shifter" for me. I think I am always happiest during the months of November and December. It brings me happiness and peace. It helps me focus on what is most important in life.
8. I am grateful for money. Without it we would not be able to accomplish all of our dreams. I am also grateful for a job that gives me endless earning potential and that I have the feeling of independence with my job. No one to watch over me every hour of the day.
9. I am grateful for a healthy body.
10. I am grateful for my family. They bring me joy just being with them. They understand and get me. I am grateful for their patience with my imperfections.
11. I am grateful that we have two cars that are completely paid for, and that I have gas cards to help pay for gas right now.
12. I am grateful that we have a grocery store right next to our development so that I don't have to drive long distances.
13. I am grateful for the affordable pricing of both food and gas at the gas station.
14. I am grateful for my mission to Japan. This is where I was able to learn how to live life to the fullest and enjoy the journey.

This is a list that I will hopefully continue to add to, this is only the beginning. I have not done this in years, and it feels good to sit down and write the things that I am grateful for. It really does help solidify what great things I already have going on in my life. POSITIVE affirmation. It is like natural caffeine that helps give me energy and enjoy an otherwise dull day.

The book also talked about writing a list of things that you want. I am going to be bold on this one, and be honest with myself? Why? Because I figure it is worth trying it out. I am going to ask, believe and receive. Hey, I've got nothing to loose! :)

1. I want to see $100,000 saved up in my bank account.
2. I want to go to Hawaii with my wife for a week. Guilt free.
3. I want to buy a new car for my wife.
4. I want to sell my home and buy a bigger home.
5. I want to have another baby with my wife.
6. I want to weigh 190 lbs. My perfect weight.
7. I want to work out every day, not because I HAVE to, but because I like to.
8. I want to go back to Japan.
9. I want BYU to beat Utah today.
10. I want to be the top seller in Utah County this month.

I was going to just limit myself to a list of ten things... but I have one more things to add to the list.

I want a big flat screen TV. (this has always been hard for me to admit. It is something I want for me. Before I have always that it was a selfish desire, but today I am going to just focus on the things I want... not that I don't want things for others, but I just want to focus on me for a bit. Don't worry, some of the reasoning behind the things I want is to bless the lives of others. Because I truly have the desire to help others. I think I can do this.

Now that I have gone through the exercises the book describes I wanted to just focus on my own thoughts for a second. I feel good. I don't feel stressed. I feel hopeful, but I don't think that is enough. I need to have firm faith and belief that these things can happen. I am telling myself over and over in my mind that they can. So bring it on! let's do this! (do you like my own little pump up session?)

Ok... back to reading, the day is going by so quickly!

One of the chapters that I was most looking forward to reading was the one where they talked about the secret to money. I think it is natural as a man and the provider of my family to have the desire to have money and wealth. There are a lot of wonderful things that you can do with weath. I am still very young, but why not want and have wealth now? I sincerely would love to bless the lives of others with the wealth that I have.

Because this is not MY personal book, I want to write as many notes as I can that I look back and apply to my life. Here is a summary of the chapter.

• To attract money, focus on wealth. It is impossible to bring more money into your life when you focus on the lack of it.
  
• It is helpful to use your imagination and make-believe you already have the money you want. Play games of having wealth and you will feel better about money; as you feel better about it, more will flow into your life.
  
• Feeling happy now is the fastest way to bring money into your life.
  
• Make it your intention to look at everything you like nad say to yourself, "I can afford that. I can buy that." You will shift your thinking and begin to feel better about money.
  
• Give money in order to bring more of it into your life. When you are generous with money and feel good about sharing it, you are saying, "I have plenty"
  
• Visualize checks in the mail
• Top the balance of your thoughts to wealth. Think wealth.
  

Again... I don't know that I agree or am completely passionate about each of the points outlined in this chapter, but it was enough to make me think. I remember my mission president tell me over and over again, "Look, Act, Feel as if you are already what you someday hope to become." I did this with my mission. I wanted to be the greatest missionary there ever was. I wanted to see success beyond comprehension. I wanted to be able to speak the language as flawlessly as possible. For the most part I was able to do this. Look, Act, Feel as if you are already what you someday hope to become. Powerful words. I passed those words on to the missionaries in the MTC that I taught for a year and a half. Their is power in Looking the part, Acting the part, an Feeling the part. I think this is part of the "secret".

I wanted to post some pictures of things that I want in life. This is part of visualizing things. It will be my own little online vision board.

I want to buy my wife a new car. A family car. We have both had our eye on this car for a while but until now felt that it was out of our reach. We can do this. This year!


I want to take my wife to Hawaii for a week.

and...I want to be at my perfect weight 190 lbs. And I want to look like THIS!

Chapter One

Tonight... I just want to write. I don't know what I am going to write about, but I have read in multiple places that it can be very therapeutic to just write whatever is on your heart and mind and that it can help rid of you anxiety. I think I want to write because I love to write. I have always loved it. All though out my school years I would stress over taking a test, but writing a paper came so easily to me. I was able to think clearly and write efficiently. I was always pleased with my grades and pleased with the work I had produced. Since I have left school I haven't written hardly anything. I write work emails all day and write letters to the missionaries in our family but that has been the extent of my writing. As you might guess, those types of writing are hardly theraputic.

I feel like I have so many things to write and to tell, yet I keep all of my thoughts and feelings to myself. Is this selfish? is this healthy? I am not sure. My wife and I recently celebrated our 2 year anniversary. Hard to believe that two years has come and gone. I often think of what life was like before we met. Life was much simpler. I only had to worry about myself. Kind of amazing if you think about it. Not that I would change anything. I love my wife and daughter dearly, but the stress that comes with it is sometimes hard to handle. I deal with stress reasonably well until recently. I will touch base on that later. Back to why marriage has been so great. When you are single you can't help but feel that there is a void that needs to be filled. Man is not made to be alone. We always search for our partner. The stress of trying to find someone was hard and stressful. I am glad I am not in that position anymore. When my wife and I met. It was like the world stood still. We were broke, but that didn't matter. We didn't stress about finances, or the future. Life was good and the living was easy. Our wedding was straight out of a storybook. We were spoiled beyond belief. It was a wonderful celebration for us, our love and for our family. I often wish I could go back to that day. Would I do these two years differently knowing what I know now? I don't know.

During the days and weeks approaching our wedding I remember many people wanting to give their advice. Did I listen and take notes? No. I probably should have. I remember one older couple that told us, "Never go to bed mad or upset at eachother" We blew that one multiple times. Let's just say I have slept on the coach a time or two. Speaking of disagreements, when things are going good I am stressed and worried that it is the "calm before the storm". And more often then not. It is. Will this cycle ever end? Who knows. We are at that stage in life where we are figuring things out. We have added a lot on our plate. More than most couples. In our 2 years of marriage I finished my undergrad, my wife gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, we purchased our first home, and have changed jobs 4 times. Who does that? I don't know many 22, 23 or 24 year olds that have accomplished that much. I now know why. It is hard work. On the flip side, we have also been taken trips to Hawaii, Norway, Sweden, Seattle, and California about 6 times. Can't complain about that. Why am I complaining? I don't know. That is just it. I seem to have EVERYTHING, yet at the same time I feel like I have nothing. How can that be?

I think part of the problem is that I am still at the age where I am trying to figure out my identity. I am trying to figure out what I want to do for a career. We are trying to establish our family and this world is so unstable it is hard to do it.