When is an Affirmation Good?

Written by Elsabe Smit

I have had issues with people grabbing onto affirmations and hoping for the best for a long time. My feeling has always been that when a person repeats affirmations and hopes for the best, I can hear the fear, disbelief and general misery behind those repetitions.

I have discovered why that is the case, and how you can in fact use affirmations to make your life better.

I will describe the process step by step as I now understand it.

Firstly, let go of any affirmation that did not come directly from you. No matter how good the guru is that gave the affirmation to you, it is not your affirmation. Accepting any affirmation from someone else is like accepting underwear that was not chosen by you, and expecting that this underwear will make you feel good about yourself. It does not work that way.

Next, you need to understand where affirmations come from.

Imagine that you have access to the biggest shopping mall in creation – not just in this universe, but in all universes, both known and unknown. In this mall, you will find everything that has already been created, and also everything that will still come to the attention of mankind because it already exists in this shopping mall that is called the ethereal. Also, imagine that you have all the money in the world, and this allows you to go into this shopping mall and buy whatever you please.

Then you bring the item that you have bought back home (to the astral level) and then you use the item in your everyday life. This item is your own personal affirmation that you selected when you had all the options and choices in the world available to you.

Let us take the example of road rage. Assume that you are prone to road rage – whether it is just a little bit or a lot, and you want to get rid of this road rage.

You have the option of grabbing an affirmation and repeating “I no longer have road rage” like a preacher on acid, however many times a day, and hoping (fingers crossed) that the relevant neuropathways will grow and save you from yourself, and that one morning you will magically wake up and you will no longer have road rage. And pigs may fly, and unicorns are real.

Here is a different approach. Imagine that you are looking at yourself and you acknowledge that you are prone to road rage, which no longer serves you.

This is like acknowledging that you went to this ethereal shopping mall and you picked road rage from a shelf and took it home, and now you have to live with your choice. You do not – just like you do not need to live with a garment that you picked from this mall only to discover later on that it was the wrong size. Just like you do not need to live with the garment knowing that you have outgrown it.

Time to go shopping. When you get into this ethereal shopping mall, what will you choose instead of road rage? I would say what I want is “I am calm and peaceful when I drive, no matter what other drivers do.” Those are my words, and all I paid for these words is the insight that this is exactly what I want to have in my life.

Then I bring these words home – into my spiritual and real home – by writing the words down so that I will not forget what exactly I bought.

Then I need to ensure that my brand spanking new purchase does not disappear into a wardrobe or cupboard, but that I in fact use it as intended.

So how do I want to use my affirmation of “I am calm and peaceful when I drive, no matter what other drivers do.”?

I think about it and decide that I will see proof of this affirmation when I graciously allow another driver to cut in when they want to change lanes. And if the driver did not use an indicator and still cut in? I will simply repeat my own affirmation because that affirmation is now becoming my own reality and not an imposed reality from some guru. Who knows: this other driver may have a bad day, and my generosity may just ease their burden. And what do I lose in the process? I lose a neuro pathway that no longer serves me.

Then another driver does not react quickly when the traffic light turns green, and I am behind their car and in a hurry. Do I use the horn that I got for Christmas and make my annoyance clear to not only that driver but also every other driver in sight? No. I say to myself of “I am calm and peaceful when I drive, no matter what other drivers do.” And I remind myself that life will continue when I reach my destination a few seconds later than planned.

Can you see what is happening here? The affirmation is now based on a deep sense of knowing, and I choose how I change my behaviour so that I can be aligned with my own personal affirmation. Those desired neuropathways grow stronger whenever I do this, and the result is not based on any emotion at all. It just is, and it makes me feel good.

Now I have value for my money, and now I know that I simply started off by using the wrong product from the mall. Now I have the correct product, and I actually wrote the manual, and I am a happy customer.

That is how I will use affirmations. This meets the three requirements for any successful affirmation, namely
• Say it (identify the desired product in the ethereal shopping mall)
• See it (bring the chosen product down to the astral level of deciding how to use it best)
• Act and do (use this chosen product so often that it because part of the DNA in every cell of your body.)

The important point is that you need to put your own affirmations into your own words, and then use these affirmations in ways that make sense to you – not to other people.

Namaste.

Modern English vs Kings English

Written by Nina Ganci

Many many moons ago, when I went to school, we were taught Kings English. Be it spelling, grammar, punctuation etc.

Yes, we learnt to write in cursive with a fountain pen!

What we learnt came home with us and was practised everywhere. It was the norm.

The other day, someone wanted to see me, so I suggested meeting at noon. Well to my horror, this young lady said “Perfect, will see you at 4pm then”

What just happened?

Telephone manners were strong. Never phone before 8am or after 9pm unless it is an emergency. That was something we all understood and obeyed. Never questioned.

Do you have WhatsApp? Should this not also apply?

I belong to a few WhatsApp groups in the area, someone will try to sell an item at 2am!!!

What happened?

Let me not start with the spelling …………..

Am I just old fashion? Is this what being old means?

What happened to manners? What happened to respect?

My Religion Matters

Written by Deborah Jordaan

Good day, beautiful souls of this universe. Today I will write about how we are divided regarding religion. We all live on this planet, yet wars have started through faith – from the dark ages to now.

As we all know, I hug trees. I embrace Mother Nature and am grateful for the abundance she blesses me with every day. Yes, we are all entitled to our diverse religions but why do we feel we need to defend ourselves for our belief system.

The Christians can wear a cross and a fish in honour of their religion, but behold a pagan person walks around with a pentagram – Satan has arrived. Why is that?

Just like any religion are we not entitled to wear what signifies our belief and not get judged for it?

For instance, we must judge all catholic priests because a few have done injustices to children. No, we should not judge all. You will find rotten apples in every religion. When you are perfect and full of grace not even then can you judge another human?

Religion does not teach respect, moral values and kindness to the human race, those traits are human and should be instilled from birth if the parents are good humans.

You do not need religion to define you for who you are.

A good human stays a good human no matter what your religion.

You go sit in the church and for that period of time, you are so holy but when you come out those doors do you practice what you hear?

We all have a bit of each of the religions in our own religion, as from the time of the early religions there were only a few and from there stemmed the religions we see today.

I was watching an interesting program last night on youtube and it was all about religious symbols and how all religions have adopted these symbols. All religions are linked, even though closed-minded people might not agree with the statement. We should all just stand together and save our beautiful planet instead of proclaiming how significant our religious paths are.

At the end of the day, Mother Nature does not care who is what religion, when she destroys parts of the planet she does not ask questions of who is the holiest. She takes and gives lives and all the human has to do in turn is take care of what she has gifted us with.

In my parting words, I just want to say that I respect people for who they are and not for the religion they follow.

My Hospital Friend

Written by Deborah Jordaan

Good day, beautiful inhabitants of this planet we call earth. Today I am going to write about the friends we meet at public hospitals and how we only see each other once a month when seeing the doctor, fetching a medicine repeat or having been admitted and meeting our fellow bed mate.

We meet the most amazing people at the hospital. However, when we see them in another environment it is different and we might not even greet each other. They all come from different walks of life.

Some live in the suburbs and some in the squatter camp. Why is it that in the hospital we become friends but when we are at home we do not visit each other? What stops us from visiting our friend in Orange farm, we were after big buddies in the ward.

Is it that we are afraid of the change in environment or the stories we hear about the less fortunate areas? We are all human beings and the only thing that separates us is society and politicians that dictate to us that we do not become house friends.

Do we just have that one thing in common when we all sit and talk about medicine and doctors at the hospital? What will we talk about if we had to visit each other outside of the hospital?

I have hospital and clinic friends as I take patients regularly to these places but yet we also do not visit outside these places. We are happy to see each other at the places we meet but outside we are mere acquaintances.

At these places, there is no such thing as racists – as you talk to the person next to you in the capacity of one sick person to the next. We have that in common.

I always make a friend before I leave a clinic or hospital as I message them to ask how they are doing.

You must remember we are all troubled humans and having a friendly face sitting next to you offering your little one a sweet or snack is all that is needed to start a conversation. We should not be afraid to talk as speaking is the universal language no matter what your race might be.

At the one clinic I go to I always buy the little children sweeties as they sit and get niggly. A sweetie will cheer them up. By that simple act the chaperone of the child can see I am no different to them. I am a caring human being just being nice to my fellow man.

My advice to everyone is – to make a friend because you never know how badly they might need a shoulder to cry on when they are sitting at a cancer clinic for instance. It is a very lonely place for someone going through cancer treatment to sit there all alone with their thoughts. They might not seem to want company but once you strike up a conversation they become a blooming flower and have a smile on their face. Whenever I see a person sad I ask them to smile for me as they are beautiful.

Anybody needs a tender word no matter what their condition. You just might be saving a mentally challenged person from committing suicide that very day.

Be blessed and be grateful. There is someone out there that cares for you.

Little Voice Called Lani

Written by Deborah Jordaan

Good day, beautiful souls of this planet we call earth. Today I am writing about the little voice inside your head reminding you that you need to be somewhere else.

You always miss something but you do not know what it is. It is not a person or even a specific place …. it is your inner self and who you are that you are missing. This will lead you to where you need to be when you recognise that little voice and listen to it.

I have an amazing friend, and now I know why she is part of my life. She is living the life my inner voice has been calling me to. She is there to give me the awakening I need. She is my real-life version of Julia Robert`s character in Eat Pray Love. She has been my inspiration since I met her. My little voice has always nagged me but it became real when I met her.

My soul cries out to the big wide world and the adventure it represents. Since a child, I have always been responsible but my wandering soul never stopped yearning for something waiting for me.

Yes, we all say we want to find ourselves but we keep on with the mundane life we lead because we are afraid of what is waiting for us. Looking at the media I envy the free-spirited souls that are not afraid to live.

How often are we going to make excuses as to why we can not live our lives to the fullest? I am not afraid of the future, it is the present that has me worried about where will it end.

We adventurous souls have to dig deep into our inner core and decide what is keeping us from exploring our future. We are stuck in limbo and sometimes we are not happy to be there, we are just used to it. I am delighted for a short while in any circumstance but then it starts to become mundane and I feel the need to move on. I need to find my happy place and settle till my old years but right now my little voice is telling me not to give up on my dreams, but the dream comes with sacrifice.

I always made excuses that my children are not grown so I cannot do anything which is valid but as they became adults I used the fact that my grandchildren are young but have their parents.

At the end of the day, all we have is ourselves and only we will know what best is for us.

Being a responsible person comes with perks, but when can we let our hair down and breathe?

There are people out there with financial means that can live their dream but because of their shallow souls, they do not see how blessed they are.

There are a few philanthropists that live their life to the fullest and pay it forward and they still see the world. They get to live their dream just by being unafraid.

I once read a story of an executive in New York who was dissatisfied with his crazy life and he gave everything up. He bought a whole bunch of educational books, sold up everything and went to Africa. He is in Africa educating underprivileged children. To me that is beautiful, he is living his dream. He was not afraid, so what is stopping us?

My parting words to you are that listen to the little voice because you might never know where your path will lead.

So let yourself go and embrace a new beginning.

Be blessed and be loved.

I Fall but Will Rise

Poem by Neshni Naidoo

Uncertain of what pushed me
Into a downward spiral I fall
No way of stopping
No way out
I bury my head under the blanket
Warm dark cozy
A cocoon of safety
Searching for a handhold
I grab onto a thought
A positive affirmation
And pull myself up
I am beautiful
I am intelligent
I am courageous
I am brave
I am amazing
I am incredible
Each thought lifts me higher
Until I can lift my head
And get out of bed
Self-doubt still lingers
Emptiness loneliness
Here in my heart
Tomorrow I will descend
Into the well I escaped
Face the demons that pulled me down
Slay them so that they trouble me no more
And pull myself as I did before
Reminding myself to fill my cup
With positive thoughts
So that the demons can’t survive

Santo and Santina’s Onomastico (Name Saints Day)

Children’s story written by Grazia Martienssen

Good day children, Flyer the seagull here, today let me tell you about:

Santo and Santina are cousins named after their Nonno (grandfather) Santo. They have been waiting a long time to celebrate their name day. Most of their friends, family and relatives have already celebrated theirs. Their friend Sebastian celebrated his in January. Their cousin Agata’s in February. Santo’s friend Giovanni has his in June, and Rosalia’s was in September. Others celebrate theirs on various dates throughout the year. The festivities usually include fireworks and carrying icons or statues from the saint’s church in procession. Some of their older cousins have been confirmed and celebrate their confirmation saint’s day as well.

What’s your name? Do you know if you are named after someone special?

All Saints and All Souls Day
Finally, it is the 1st of November and it’s Santo and Santin’s Onomastico. They celebrate with their Nonno Santo and all the saints. It is a public holiday. Those who do not have saints’ names celebrate with them as well. Nonno reads to them and teaches them more about the saints. They learn that their feast day started sometime in the year 609 AD (Anno Domino). This refers to the number of years after Jesus passed on. Originally it was celebrated in springtime, which is in March, April and May, but later it was changed to November (winter).

They remember the saints at mass in the Eucharist. After mass family and friends visit them and bring them gifts. Nonno gets a calendar for the following year with the saints for each month on it. It also shows the patron saints of each Town. Along with other gifts, the children get a book with big pictures and some writing on each page explaining about the saints.

Everybody wishes them ‘buon onnomastico’ (happy name day). The family and relatives all come around and have a special meal together on Nonno’s farm where they spend the day after mass. Mom makes some long homemade pasta called maccheroni for the 1st course. The second course is meat with sauce (carne al sugo). She also makes cannoli for dessert (a sweet treat). Their cousins in North Italy send photos of their day, they are eating risotto (a rice dish) and snacking on roasted chestnuts (In different parts of Italy, traditions and cultures change). They set an empty place at the table for those in heaven.
The next day is tutti i morti (all souls day).

They remember their family and relatives and friends who have gone to heaven. They go to the graves to bring flowers especially chrysanthemums (In Italy different flowers are used for different occasions). They clean the graves and spend time with those in heaven. They light candles to pay their respect to them. Their friends in Rome sent a video of their picnic at the graveside to share a meal with those in heaven. They talk to their Nonna, Bisnonno (great-grandfather), and other families in heaven. Santo and Santina miss their Nonna and Bisnonno very much, but they know they can talk to them and they will be listening from heaven, so they tell them everything. They tell them all about preschool, their friends, their new puppies, absolutely everything.

Do you know anyone in heaven? Do you visit them at the grave and bring flowers?
Do you talk to them?

Hidden sweets
Later in the day they finally look around the house for sweets and luxuries hidden by their loved ones from heaven. It is so much fun looking for special treats. They find them all over the house and enjoy them.

Which special treats and sweets do you like?