| ive thinking and affirmations are a great beginning to | | | | enjoyment by thinking of ourselves as the cheated or |
| get you on a more positive path in life. A Course in | | | | downtrodden which makes it easier for us to be |
| Miracles is an especially great book for helping you to | | | | enamored of ourselves. It doesn’t really help us |
| begin this new life. Many people find, however, that this | | | | in the long run to hold enemies in our minds because it |
| course is simply not enough. After completing the | | | | merely keeps the old cycle going wherein we view |
| course over the period of one year, they find that they | | | | ourselves as a victim and continue to feel like there is |
| want to start again and go through it another year or | | | | a perpetrator out there trying to destroy us. We |
| even more. The important thing to recognize is that | | | | remain similar to the way we have always been and |
| positive thinking is only the beginning of a larger and | | | | the self affirmations eventually have no more effect. In |
| more comprehensive spiritual path. It requires positive | | | | order to make a real change and to utilize the true |
| energy to undertake a spiritual course because | | | | power of self affirmation, we need to look more |
| overcoming challenges takes effort and strength. As | | | | closely at the manner in which we see ourselves as a |
| you gain energy, you will naturally call up greater and | | | | “victim” in the world. This victim |
| greater challenges for confrontation. | | | | psychology must also be let go of if the more positive |
| People who suffer from low self image or negative | | | | self affirmations are to truly raise a persons self |
| thinking often carry with them a core idea that they | | | | esteem. This is what it means to move beyond |
| are a “victim” of the world and they feel | | | | positive thinking. |
| that they have somehow been cheated. They point | | | | Although we love to see ourselves in a positive light all |
| their finger at others in order to feel better about | | | | the time, it is also good to keep our humility. It should be |
| themselves. The use of positive self affirmations is a | | | | enough for us to simply view ourselves as exactly |
| great way to overcome this victim kind of thinking but | | | | what we are, rather than insisting on seeing ourselves |
| it is only the beginning. These affirmations and positive | | | | as somehow “better” than what we |
| patterns of thought can sometimes be misused as a | | | | actually are. We don’t need to engineer |
| way of asserting ourselves against an | | | | elaborate ideas in our minds which make us appear |
| “imaginary enemy”. This turning of | | | | like something more. We are good enough just as we |
| ourselves against the negativity of the world can | | | | are! |
| merely strengthen the illusion that there is something | | | | Rather than believing we are bad and working very |
| out there that is negative and worth fighting against. | | | | hard to “increase” our self esteem, |
| Nothing could be further from the truth. Negativity, in | | | | moving beyond positive thinking means finding a useful |
| and of itself is nothing. It does not have an independent | | | | strategy to simply become comfortable with exactly |
| existence but is really better thought of as a simple | | | | what is. We can sit still in our chairs and observe who |
| lack of positive thinking. Moving beyond the duality of | | | | we are at any given moment. This is actually the |
| Positive and negative is what it means to move | | | | meaning of moving beyond positive thinking and can |
| “beyond positive thinking” . There is | | | | be practiced in disciplined meditation. |
| nothing out there that is trying to hurt us. This idea has | | | | Although positive thinking is useful for getting us away |
| been stuck in our minds and is part of an illusion that | | | | from the destructive behavior we may have fallen into, |
| merely needs to be let go of rather than | | | | it is not the end-all solution to raising our self esteem. |
| “battled”. Using positive thinking as | | | | Over the course of time, we can begin to see |
| weapon or a tool is not the way that self affirmations | | | | ourselves as perfectly acceptable just the way we |
| were meant to be used. | | | | are. We no longer need to “fight” |
| There is a victim mentality in many of us who suffer | | | | against others to win our self esteem. We can feel |
| from negative thinking which tends to keep us feeling | | | | confident that we are ok and have found a new way |
| sorry for ourselves. We may even get a secret | | | | to live. |