The Key to the Treasure
The key to the treasure is the treasure.
--John Barth, Chimera
Dear Reader, if you are like myself you probably long to read in a column such as this one fabulous notions on how to calculate with absolute accuracy the exact location on the planet of your true soul mate. Perhaps you would like me to whisper in your virtual ear the secret of enlightenment or show you how to juggle all your various karma chameleons until they vanish as the delusions they are. Even just a few words about the nature of reality would probably be welcome. Surely, Martin, you can twirl the Dance of the Seven Veils on the head of a pin while changing a tire and drinking a latte.
When I figure out such matters, I will gladly relate the findings to you, especially that one about the tire and the latte. However, I do know a tool that I believe has helped my life, helped me to live more abundantly and come closer to my mature goals. The use of Affirmations has been an important tool for me, and while their use may or may not lead to the sudden enlightening bolt from the blue (or salvation or nirvana or heaven), they do help me at least to live my life in a positive frame of mind.
The creation of this positive framework is why affirmations are both the key to the treasure and the treasure. When I am in a positive state of mind, I am open and responsive to new experiences, to new ways of thinking and doing things. I am not afraid to be creative; I share and enjoy and enjoy your sharing and joy.
Contrast the preceding with what happens when you are down or in a negative frame of mind. As you talk negatively to yourself, perception narrows and often pessimistic expectations lead to negative experiences by way of the self-fulfilling prophecy. That is you get out of life what you put in. If you constantly expect negative experiences, you will tend to get just that, negativity in your life.
As we have learned from sports figures such as Michael Jordan and Larry Bird and the inspirational lives of such figures as Helen Keller, Martin Luther King, and the current Dalai Lama, attitude may not be everything but it almost is. Negative events happen in every life whether we like it or not (and no one truly knows why), but what is so important is how we respond to such events. We can maintain a positive attitude that will help us move more gracefully through such circumstances.
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