Affirmations vs Letting Go
 

As I sit here tonight, the Serenity Prayer comes into my mind:

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference".

How do we know and understand when we are "wise" enough to tell the difference between those things we can change and those we cannot?

Isn't affirming something simply a desire to change or control things which may be beyond our influence or ability to do so, instead of merely accepting things how they are?

If I could affirm anything, it would be to be taken more seriously and to engage in more "deep and meaningful" conversations, yet whenever I express this desire, I am always advised to act with selfless intent and not to wish for or expect any desired outcome...which leaves me wondering "what about this Law of Attraction" thing then?

Why is it that I always seem to "attract" negativity, when one would think that if the Universe wanted me to grow spiritually, it would be a heck of a lot more supportive and understanding instead of being rude and dismissive.

If it is my ego that is getting in the way and my lesson is to "let go, let God", do I honestly know what I want and what is best for me that I am even able to make an affirmation? would that not be what my ego wants, which may not even be beneficial to me on any "soul level?" I mean, do I even have any free will or am I just going along for the ride?

But you've hit it with the word "MAY". A basic principle of affirmation (to me) is that it has to be practicable. If one isn't wise enough to know whether something is practicable then they'll soon learn because it won't work if it isn't. Let's hope they learn...
....Which isn't to say that what initially seems impractical can't be reduced to stages. I want to be a brain surgeon. That ain't gonna happen overnight but in stages it might just. (Just an example. I don't really want to be a brain surgeon!)

Perhaps it's about intuiting the suitability of the respondent to hold the type of conversation you feel necessary. I find sometimes it takes an effort to be interested enough in others' views in conversation and keeping on message. In negotiation it's necessary to try.

Is relying on some (presumably) exterior force to decide what's best for you the best way? Isn't it rather throwing yourself in the seas of fate? Isn't this a bit of a cop-out, exposing you potentially to blame this agency when things don't turn out as you hope? Could this force have already decided and tried to prompt you but you have yet to respond? Is that possibly what the search for Self is about? Could it be behind how you now see yourself as a negativity magnet?

There's nothing wrong with ego. It's the interface between your aims (from wherever they emanate within you) and people and things you need to facilitate them (by whatever means). There seems at least some consensus that what we are and do emanates from our souls which supposes the spark within us, i.e. not being driven, zombi-like, by an external force once we're placed here.

I don't believe the way we live founded itself on waiting around for god/universe to come up with a care plan for every human ever existing. Ok, a big discussion but it starts with the most basic drive - to survive, a feature of organic life. We're prompted to choose a way to survive. That seems to have been written into the ecological system. We've elaborated it into a process that involves many choices and decisions which are up to us, surely?

Are affirmations and "letting go" really the only mutually exclusive choices? My suggestion would be don't affirm if it's impractical or one hasn't the staying power to see things through and/or isn't deeply motivated to achieve the aim.

But...just my views....

Do always only what you think is right, and pay attention to what comes back to you on average!

Free will is not necessarily about changing your circumstances, it is all about changing your mind and how you feel. I heard a story about an Auschwitz survivor who was healthy, though starved and he was asked how he survived so long in the camp and he said, they could imprison my body but they could not imprison my mind.

Like I said in another thread, maybe two other threads, affirmations are about feeling supported and worrying or obsessing over something is counter productive. Know you are supported and go about your business, you don't even need affirmations more than once if you can do that.

You mentioned the wisdom to know the difference about what you can and cannot change. Here is I determine it, if it involves something someone else is doing that has nothing to do with me accept it. If it is something I think about someone that may or may not be true, I find a way to change it. It really is all about the way we think. I am not saying let people walk all over you, I take a stand when someone tries to abuse/mainpulate or take advantage of me (though I am not mean about it like I used to be), I am saying give people a break, you don't know what is going on in their heads.

When I learned this, I felt like I was surrounded by crazy people and they were making my life miserable, and because of a suggestion to change the way I thought about those people I found that I was just as crazy as they were and we all had different ways of coping with trauma and stress. I looked for something I liked about each of them and found by doing that we got along better and they revealed some things that made me realize it was not them, it was me who had to change. We were all in a messy situation and each of us had to figure out how to be ok.

I don't know if this helps but I do wish you blessings on your journey.

P.S. I did not bring this into it but I also did not mean we are to just keep walking when we see another being abused. If we can help we should, but usually the things we obsess over are the things we can't change externally, they have to changed internally, personally.

Great question.. I've wondered about the idea of 'Free will' a lot.. and along with trying many manifestation and spiritual exercises what I've realized is this.

1. The universe reflects your deep seeded beliefs

What this essentially means is that, if you believe and gather enough evidence to convince your mind that something is the way it is - you'll experience the world based on that world view. So affirmations or any other technique first need to be extremely compatible with your belief system for it be able to be effective.

2. Our degree of free will varies depending on (karma, unknown reasons)

It is is sad but true that - we have very limited Free Will.. and a lot of our lives have been pre-destined.. but the amount of free will we do possess it is indeed enough to fulfill our duties on this earth plane. So even though I know, the degree of Free-will can exercise is limited - but I don't get discouraged by it... as I know it is more than enough to create the things I'm SUPPOSED in this life.

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No matter what we practice - one cannot manifest anything that does not resonate with their soul purpose.. anything that is not your soul purpose will only be a temporary desire, it will automatically fade away and you'll be left with a strong undying desire for something.. a desire that is devoid of the things that come along with that desire.. the desire itself that you're attracted to.. something that you're drawn to do naturally.. you'll manifest that desire very easily and the satisfaction of which will be describable.

Anyway... just some random thoughts...

Hello,

I find it best not to confuse life circumstances with that outlook on life which I cultivate. We have the free will to be happy that way.

John

Wise words, as always, John. As usual.

Namaste,

JL

That's the Billion dollar question.

Did I manifest the song I thought of or did I know it was coming, and thought of it before it played on the radio??

Chicken or the egg first?

Hmmmmmm

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A wise line of contemplation :smile:

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