The Power Of Positive Thinking

Photo by Mert Talay on Unsplash

A long time ago, I read something about positive affirmations. The book I was reading was all about detoxing, but it wasn't one of those crazy fad diet books that everyone was into at one point. You know the ones I mean? Cabbage diets, cucumber diets, apple diets. Crazy stuff that people stick to for about a morning and then get bored and give up. This book took an holistic approach to detoxing because it encouraged you to detox your mind as well as your body.

That might be a little far-fetched and crazy to some, at first, but if you continue reading, I'll tell you why it wasn't. At least, not for me.

When I first started taking my writing, made the mistake of telling people I was writing a book and automatically gave myself pressure I didn't need.  So, I was writing a book? Who cares? No one, until the book is written and you need to prove to yourself that this book is a significant piece of work and that it matters.

The only way I knew of making my book matter was to get it published. Writing a novel isn't a selfish act. As writers we want to get our stories out there. In the beginning, for me, the publishing industry was scary, it was vast and, at times, unfathomable. I researched my socks off and found various directions I could take; get an agent, submit to publishing houses, self- publish (a minefield in itself).

As I began the process I faltered many times. I backed out of writing query letters, I made lists of agents and then cast them aside, I read success stories and yet I still felt lost and uncertain. I was convinced that editors and agents would laugh my query letter into the nearest bin and that someone would click DELETE after reading the first line of my novel. I was so insecure about my writing you wouldn't believe.

Then I remembered that book. Especially the section that spoke of positive affirmations and self-belief. Without self-belief and positive thinking how was I going to convince anyone to take me seriously?

The book spoke of positive affirmations. And if you don't know what they are, a positive affirmation is a statement or phrase that affirms a positive message, eliminating negative doubts. For example: I am a good writer who has a good story to tell. Now fill in your own positive affirmation. It doesn't have to be about writing, of course. Positive thinking can be applied to most situations in you life.

We all have doubts and we're human, they will come up again and again in our lives. In order for me to overcome them I look at the things that are blocking my way forward; the negative doubts, and I form a statement that blurs them and takes them away.

Of course affirmations are not magic. They won't win you the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction but how will you come anywhere close if you don't believe in yourself?