The
May 7, 2000 Affirmations workshop was a great success! Special thanks
to Nancy for leading the event. With the workshop as inspiration, here
are some thoughts on Affirmations as a tool of recovery.

1. Writing your own affirmations

• Keep
  them in the present tense, rather than thinking of them as something
  that will happen. Your unconscious responds better to the here and now.
  Rather than, “I will be happy,” try “I am happy,” or “Happiness is in
  me and all around me.”
• Keep it positive. (Avoid
  negatives.) If you say “I’m not going to get sick,” you are still
  focusing on sickness, and that is what your unconscious hears. Instead,
  consider, “I am extremely healthy.” Similarly, rather than, “I don’t
  need my lousy relationship,” consider something like, “I am a beautiful
  person, and I deserve healthy, beautiful relationships.”
• Tailor
  the affirmation to you. Using the 6th Step (became willing to have God
  remove our shortcomings), imagine what positive qualities will exist in
  you after God removes your shortcomings. Then create affirmations using
  those positive qualities. For example, one of my character defects is
  Judging. With Judging out of my life, I imagine I’ll be accepting and
  loving. So Acceptance and Love become my affirmation themes and I
  write: “I accept people exactly as they are,” and, “Every day I am
  surrounded by God’s children.” Positive statements give our unconscious
  something healthy to focus on, which takes attention away from our
  character defects.

2. Using affirmations

• Whether you use affirmations from a book, or write your own, it’s good to work them into your life. Here are some creative ways:
• Tape a list of affirmations on your mirror and recite them whenever you look at yourself.
• Leave
  an affirmation on your answering machine, or send yourself a voicemail
  at work. Some voicemail systems will even allow you to send a message
  at some point in the future, like Tuesday at 11am. Then in the middle
  of a hectic Tuesday, you’ll hear an affirmation in your own voice,
  cheering you on!
• Have a list of favorite affirmations that you say before going to bed and/or first thing in the morning. Make it a daily ritual.
• Record
  your favorite affirmations into a tape recorder. Maybe record a few
  affirmations each day. Then, when the tape is full, you can play it
  back any time: while you sleep or do housework, for example.
• Consider buying a daily affirmation calendar, and read out loud from it every day.

3. Prayers as Affirmations

• By
  adding one letter to the Serenity Prayer, you can turn it into an
  affirmation: “God grants me the serenity to accept the things I cannot
  change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the
  difference.”
• Consider using other prayers or inspirational messages as affirmations.

4. Speak up!

• It
  is much more powerful to say something out loud than to say it to
  yourself or think it. This is a kind of ‘neuro-linguistic programming.’
  Chances are that many of our negative messages were said out loud at
  some point. Positive messages deserve the same treatment.

5. General Notes

• Try
  an affirmation for a few days and see if you like it. You can always
  change it later. After all, there is no “correct” affirmation, just one
  that helps you and your recovery.
• Remember that you
  don’t have to believe the affirmation right now. For many of us,
  negative messages have been playing in our heads for years. We recite
  affirmations to retrain our unconscious mind and, like all good things,
  that takes time…. But the nice thing is, the process of reciting
  affirmations feels good now. So, enjoy the process, and let go of the
  results.

6. Resources

• CoDA
  publishes an Affirmation Booklet for $1.50. Contact CoRe at
  214-340-1777 ([email protected]) for details. An order form is available
  online at www.coda.org. Click on “ordering literature” and go to page 3
  of the order form; you’ll find the booklet (Item 7001) under “Special
  Items” in the left column. A $7.50 minimum order (plus shipping) is
  required, so you may want to get a group purchase together or buy
  additional literature.
• Ask friends for their favorite affirmations, or listen at meetings.
• Many books, tapes, and daily calendars exist with affirmations in them. Visit your local bookstore.

7. Words of encouragement

• Start
  slowly. One affirmation a day is more than zero. One affirmation a week
  is more than zero. There is no magic formula or perfect way to do
  affirmations. Like life, it’s all part of a process. And you are
  already wonderful, right now.

Bob (2000)