Affirmations: Parts Four and Five

I ran a marathon about six years ago.  It was the first and only marathon I've ever run.  And it's only the only marathon I've ever run because I'm a jack ass.  After running the marathon in Florence (yes, Italy), I knew that if I didn't start training for the LA Marathon four months later, I wouldn't run another marathon for a long time, if not ever.  And I was right.  

So running has come back to me.  I have always loved it.  Well, since six and a half years ago.  I only decided to do it because my ex-boyfriend challenged me to.  And when I heard the words, "I would never do a marathon," come out of my mouth I knew I had to do it.  So I trained for six months.  Six months!  Over the course of those six months, I ran over 500 miles in training runs.  I did things I didn't know I could do.  Every week for the first few months was, "I've never run this far ever!"  That was three miles, then four, then six, then ten, then sixteen, then twenty!  And now running is something else I can do. 

I love how meditative it is, hence these affirmations.  I've been running Hancock Park, where I'm dogsitting for two friends of mine for the week.  Taking a break from my normal routine has been terrific.  So has running in a neighborhood with such history and huge houses.  It's a fresh perspective, fresh surroundings.  So even just looking at these neighborhoods is a meditation it itself.  It is strangely more private, so I can be even louder in speaking my affirmations.  The path at home is a specific running path, so I'm running past people on a mission and it's sometimes hard to proclaim myself out loud.  But I still do it, of course.  Because I have to.  I have to use my mouth and say what I want for myself.  The loudness and embarrassment is a part of it.

So, affirmations...Hancock Park Edition, Parts IV and V.

Twist the Spine/Flip the Script

This comes from my last tarot reading with Susan.  She has a separate set of cards that someone made for her.  And the one I picked was "Twist the Spine."  I have been told that I need to look at things from a different perspective.  I need to maybe turn to the left, to the right or even turn to look behind me.  Because what I'm seeing in front of my isn't everything.  The key is that I need to look at things differently.  The way I'm looking at my life isn't actually the full truth.

I am more successful than I think I am.  

I have accomplished more than I give myself credit for.

My experience of life is not one of someone who is about to break through.

So I need to Twist the Spine, aka Flip the Script.  I need to turn things upright.  I look at things upside down, literally.  I think the sky is green and the grass is blue.  I think I'm unsuccessful and others around me have more than I have.  What I have is my own.  It's perspective, insight, depth, wonder and curiosity.  I have a strong work ethic and I have a strong sense of myself.  That's the thing I never got.  

I remember seeing friends at a high school reunion and people remembering me as someone self-assured.  That is not the impression I have of myself.  And I need to get with the program because that's the person I am.  I don't need to do any work, I just need to Flip the Script.

The big takeaway from the tarot reading was that I don't need to DO anything differently.  I need to THINK differently.  

So the affirmation was about that: I need to think differently.  And keep running.

Be As Smart As You Are

I was in bed last night when that phrase popped into my head:

Be As Smart As You Are

Simple.  Start acting like it!

My whole life my Dad told me that he didn't want me to get a big head.   He didn't want me to show off or to think I was too good.  

I was taking to my friend Victor a month ago and I was saying that I needed to stop being so entitled and that I needed to just work and invest myself in my work.  Victor turned to me and said, "That's not your problem.  I don't think you're entitled enough!  You need to be MORE entitled."

Well, I like that better.  But I think it point was the opposite of my Dad's.  I have accomplished a lot and I need to act like it.  Stop acting like I'm apologizing for how smart, accomplished, hard working, attractive, interesting and spiritual I am.  Just be it.

Be As Smart As You Are

No action.  Just thought.  Just be what you are.

I had fun saying that on my run today.  It felt so good to say that I started singing it.  And that's what empowerment should be.  It should make us feel good.  It shouldn't be labor.  It should be pure enjoyment.

I am saying all of my affirmations with a smile on my face from now on.