“Jessica’s ‘Daily Affirmation’” video has only been out for a couple of months, but it has already gone viral - it’s had more than 4,500,000 views!! And, it’s no wonder why. Jessica, a cute, four year old girl clad in pajamas is swaying back and forth atop her bathroom sink stating with total conviction how wonderful her life is. It’s hard not to be enthralled and inspired by affirmations such as “I love my hair,” “I love my haircuts,” “I love my whole house,” and “I can do everything good!”
If you haven’t seen this video, I’m embedding it here:
In a world full of so much negativity, Jessica’s affirmations are a rare and refreshing approach to life. In the past years it seems like we have developed daily, unconscious habits for berating instead of praising ourselves. How often does our daily narrative with ourselves and others include comments like “I am too this not enough that,” or “I don’t like the way I look,” or even just “I don’t like myself or anything about me.” By speaking this way we send a clear and scary message to ourselves: we’re not good enough. As if that were not enough, we also surround ourselves in a cloud of heavy, negative energy, often leading to depression or isolation.
Of course, for those of us in the recovery community this is especially poignant. There is such a capacity to assail oneself with this type of negative talk that one takes drastic measures to “fix” themselves. But the truth is this: we are good enough and who and what we are is wonderful. We just have to believe it.
Positive affirmations aren’t only good for Jessica, but for everyone. They help our brain turn off the “fix” button and turn on the “accept and love yourself” one instead. So what if, like Jessica, who is now 12 going on 13, we could commit to making positive statements to ourselves on a daily basis and eliminating the negative ones? What if we made them with enthusiasm, swinging our arms and raising our voices? Imagine the impact that sending positive messages to your brain about yourself would have! It would only be a matter of time before you started truly believing and realizing just what an amazing person you are and what a wonderful life this is.
What did you think about the video? What is an affirmation you can commit to?
Leave your affirmation as a comment, and maybe it will inspire someone else to do the same.
I’ll start: I love my blog! I love my family! I love myself! I can do anything I set my mind to!