Eliminate the Negative

I sleep with a small collection of books next to my bed. I adore reading - the mere thought of reading a great book sends chills up my spine - but it takes quite a book to be placed in the prestigious position next to my bed. This spot is reserved only for the 

crème de la crème 

of the literary world. Books that have not only changed my life, but changed my life's journey.



Today, the book I wanted to quote from sits firmly beside my bed. It is a book that was given to me by my mother as a way of saying "yes Lauren, you are normal, we all get a bit muddled up sometimes" and it has saved me during many a distraught morning, anxious evening and sleepless night.


This book is called You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L. Hay. It explores the idea that we have control over our destiny - a novel idea, isn't it? - and that by changing our thought patterns and approach to all situations and confrontations, be they good or bad, we can drastically alter the outcome of our lives.


The quote I wanted to share with you today comes from the second chapter of the book, which looks to identify and change problems that occur within our own lives from our own viewpoint,

"It is safe to look within"

The first time I read that line, I had to repeat it ten or eleven times before I started to realise why it was making me uncomfortable. "It is safe to look within." Safe. Safe. Safe? What does she mean by safe? How do I define safety? Surely to a small child safety means looking both ways before crossing the street and not talking to strangers. To a teenager safety is wearing a helmut when skateboarding (and occasionally when teenage girls wear high heels..) To an adult safety is indicating at a round-a-bout and wearing gloves when touching dangerous chemicals. 


Safety implies that there is some form of harm that we must be protected from. Surely there is not harm in looking outside of yourself for answers? It's very difficult to get yourself to a place where you can search deep inside for answers, so isn't that what we need protection from? We find shelter in shying away from asking the tough questions, but if you can face the biggest demon of them all, yourself, and ask him these questions to his face is there anything you can't do?


Take some time to find a quiet place, relax and think about what's bothering you - it may be a work or family problem, your partner, a friend, health concerns or financial woes - why is it concerning you? What exactly are you worried will happen? Think about the statements that you are associating with your problem, and note the use of any negative words "can't", "shouldn't", "don't" -- meditate on these for a while, and start to transform them into positives "can", "should", "do!" Repeat these to yourself, and you will find that the negative associations will start to slip away. It's ok if these feelings begin to creep back, just refocus, centre yourself and find your positive phrases again.


Put your hard hat on guys, we are going in(side)


Love and light,
Lauren xxx




http://www.amazon.com/You-Heal-Your-Life-Gift/dp/1561706280/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307712571&sr=8-1