Warriors say that the way we maintain our perception of the world is by talking to ourselves. We maintain a constant internal dialogue dur- ing every waking moment, during which we reaffirm everything that we perceive. We walk down the street saying this is a tree, this is a car, there is a beautiful woman etc… This dialogue along with our behav- ior, serves to affix the assemblage point to its current location. If one stops the internal dialogue, one “stops the world”, the assemblage point shifts, and one is then able to perceive other worlds. On a less
grand scale, one might imagine that our internal dialogue has an impact on what we are and how we live our lives. An addict, thinking of himself or herself as a worthless crumb, is likely to remain so. An obese person thinking about how fat he or she is, is likely to remain so. A depressed person, thinking about how depressed he or she is, is likely to remain so. I find that changing my thought patterns completely is not something I can accomplish all at once. I can however, once a day make a concerted effort to change this dialogue within myself such that it supports and affirms the life that I want for myself. I do this through the use of affirmations. This sounds very corny and has been the sub- ject of numerous Saturday Night Live skits, but it is easy to do, you don’t have to tell anybody you are doing it, and it works. Every morn- ing while I am taking a shower I say a series of affirmations. I say them out loud, just take my word for it, it’s important to state your affirma- tions in a clear audible voice. It is also important that your affirmations are structured so that they are completely positive. In other words don’t say “I am not depressed”, say “I am happy”. It is not important that you believe anything that you are telling yourself, it’s just impor- tant that you do this on a daily basis. Below is a sample of the most general parts of my daily series of affirmations.
“All is well in my universe. I am happy. I am healthy. I am com- plete. I am at peace. All is well in my universe. I love myself and accept myself exactly the way that I am. Because I love myself, I treat myself well in every conceivable way. Because I love myself, my world is filled with love, which comes back to me many times multiplied. All is well in my universe. I accept and acknowledge that I am the sole creative force in my world. I will now enjoy my life. I forgive everyone, I forgive myself, I forgive all past events, I am now free. Love comes easily to me and I deserve to be loved. Once love comes it stays and flourishes. My God helps me in all things and puts everything into its proper order. I draw only good people to myself. My interactions are enjoyable and without con-
flict. I save my energy. I have nothing to defend. All is well in my universe and everything is unfolding as it should.”
When I started doing this, I didn’t believe a single word of the affir- mations. I was miserable and had been for years. I was an active alco- holic in denial. I was living in a tiny apartment underneath a crack den. I was despised by my work associates and in constant bitter conflict with them. I had just broken up a long-term relationship with some- one who was an emotionally abusive drug addict and drug dealer. I had stayed with this man only because I didn’t think that anyone else would want me. For the last few months of our relationship I was con- stantly changing my locks, afraid that he would come and steal from me, only to give him the new keys several weeks later. When I ended the relationship for good, I was prepared to live a life of solitude. I hated myself and I hated life. The only reason I did not commit suicide was because I was too much of a coward to do so. Within three months of saying these affirmations that I didn’t believe, I met a wonderful car- ing man who would eventually become my husband. Within five years, I was sober. Over the first ten years I grew to love myself and to love being alive. I now have a beautiful child. I love my job and am well respected in my field. I work because I want to, not because I have to. I have beautiful homes. Interpersonal conflict is the exception rather than the rule for me. My life is not without problems and I have peri- ods of sadness appropriate for a given situation. But overall I have peace of mind and serenity. Seven years after our break up, my ex-boy- friend, the drug dealer, was found dead in his apartment. That could have been my life. Through the grace of the Elemental Force and a few corny utterances, I was spared from a disaster that should have been inevitable.
You might want to try an affirmation that Castaneda was told to say by one of his teachers, and see what happens:
“Repeat to yourself incessantly that the hinge of sorcery is the mys- tery of the assemblage point. If you repeat this to yourself long
enough, some unseen force takes over and makes the appropriate changes in you”.
—The Art of Dreaming, Carlos Castaneda
Gratitude (Warrior’s Way and A.A.)
Although Warriors say that the Spirit is an impersonal force, they nev- ertheless express gratitude to the Spirit for all things. Gratitude is also stressed in A.A. Before I go to bed each night, I go through a list of everything I have, from my sobriety, to my family, even the food that I eat, and I thank the Elemental Force for these things. Sometimes I get lazy and I don’t do it for a while. What usually happens is that I start focusing on what I don’t have and this is a forerunner to self-pity. I therefore prefer to just go through my list every night. It helps me to keep myself in a positive frame of mind.