Why is it that some people seem to marinate in misery? You know the people I’m talking about.  They see the glass perpetually half empty. A cloud seems to follow them wherever they go. It seems they can recall every wrong that has ever been dealt them. You see these people coming down the isle in the grocery store suddenly the fine print on the toilet paper packaging becomes all engrossing.

I stumbled upon some interesting research conducted by Dr. Jim McGaugh, Research Professor, Neurobiology and Behavior School of Biological Sciences, University Irvine. Dr. Mc Gaugh’s research suggests that adrenaline hormones create stronger memories in the brain than pleasure hormones do.

From a design standpoint, if you want to live a long life, this makes good sense.  Adrenaline, along with its stress-released companions, gets your body ready to flee or fight in the face of danger. So being ready to remember and quickly react to life-threatening situations like hungry lions and tigers and bears, kept our ancestors alive (Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this!).   This natural selection process has resulted in a population that is hard-wired to pay more attention to the negative and over-look the positive. In fact, there’s even research to suggest that it takes way more positive experiences to outshine a single negative event.

There was a time when looking out for the negative was important for survival. My grandmother used to say, “One bad apple will spoil the whole bunch.” In her day, times were hard and spotting the bad apple before the bushel was destroyed was important. It meant more food on the table during the long cold winters on the farm.

Our media plays on this natural tendency to perceive the negative. And it pays off big-time in advertising revenues as people turn in to learn the-crisis-du jour.  This translates into people becoming stressed-out, overly anxious and literally dis-eased.

The good news is there’s hope. It all starts with changing your thoughts.

Recently I was asked, “Is it true that affirmations get down into a deeper level within us?”

I must preface this by disclosing that the person who was asking is a little suspect of these “New Age” concepts or what he believes to be the hype of the movie “The Secret.”

The answer is that affirmation, or continuous focus on specific thoughts does work. And Proverbs chapter 23 verse 7, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.” would suggest that thinking something with so much passion as to etch it into your heart, is not a relatively new practice. Repetitive thoughts, good or bad create the person.  It is just the way in which the Universe works.

Recent research by neuroscientists has confirmed that repetition (Remember those third grade spelling rules?) is an important part of “wiring” the brain. The term “wiring” refers to the forming of synapses between the brain cells. Once wired together, the synapses fire together, strengthening and reinforcing their function. Without this repetition and use, the brain figures the synapses are dead and “prunes” them away, so consciously and continuously thinking (affirming) that which you wish to see in your future makes sense. The more you affirm something through thought the stronger the wiring will be to support that which is desired.

Does this mean that repeating affirmations is going to have the effect of Aladdin’s lamp and that by continual repetition what you affirm will magically appear? No, but the opportunities for you to take action to produce the results you desire are ever-present and will be more noticeable to your conscious mind as the wires to identify supports and resources already present in your environment will be in place. The repetition of what you desire has the effect of keeping thoughts on the forefront of your mind.  When you see an opportunity and take action you will have the effect of Aladdin’s lamp.

On a metaphysical (beyond the physical) level, to give your affirmations a little more traction, it is important to add positive emotional expectancy to them. Remember when you were a small child awaiting the holidays, excitedly expecting your desired gift? You knew, without a doubt, you would receive it, that one special toy. That is the type of emotional expectancy needed to produce your desired outcome. Your subconscious mind responds well to this type of emotional excitement, as does the Universe on a vibrational level.

Dry, dull, monotonous repetitions of an affirmation do little to excite the subconscious mind and prime it for action. Think about how you get someone’s attention. If you are just talking in a monotone, you tend to be ignored. If you vary your tone, either with anger or excitement, you tend to get noticed. It is the same when you are ordering from the Universe. Those thoughts that are accompanied by either positive or negative emotion hold a louder frequency and get the attention of the Cosmic Order Desk quicker.

If you are really serious about using affirmations, serve them with a dish of imagination, visualizing your perfect outcome. See it unfold as you so desire it to be. The Latin word is affirmare which means to assert. An affirmation is an assertion of your truth through thought and word. Spend a little time each day for the next 30 days declaring your truth, sprinkled with positive emotional intensity and served with a visualization of the perfect outcome. Let me know of your success.