My chiropractor has a magazine called "Voice for Health!" Perhaps you've heard of it before. If not, it's only $7.50 US ($12.50 Canada) annually to get it instead of that ragmag people call "a newspaper." 

Anyway, in Vol. LVI, (LVI means Vol 56 since schools stopped teaching Roman Numerals) No. 5 page 4 of the Sept-Oct 2009 VFH issue stopped me cold. Me, "Miss Grade 2 Westvale School Spelling Bee Champion" thought I saw not one, not two, but MULTIPLE misspellings of one of my favorite things to do and share.

That word was "AFFIRMATION." But the editor of VFH seems headstrong on using it at least three times with the spelling "AFFORMATION."

I was about to write the editor, until I kept reading most intriguing story. And if I could find my second grade teacher I'd have to abdicate my coveted 1961 "bee crown."

The article's author, Dr. Denise Be'rard, M Msc., PhD asks the question:

"Have you ever wanted to change anything about your life?"

My response of course to those who know me was "duh!" Who doesn't?"

Dr. Denise continues...."If you're like many people, you may have tried:

Reading self-help books...Attending seminars and lectures....Writing your goals...Working longer hours.....

At this point I'm about to revert to making a sandwich until I read. . . .

Writing or saying "AFFIRMATIONS!"

Okay now we're talking! This little black woman never can read enough about affirmations! After all isn't that what self improvement and encouraging others is all about?

WRONG-O-AMIGO.

The thing Dr. Denise stopped me cold with is that for eons people have make ka-billions on teaching others how to have more positive thoughts out-loud. . . .

But do they work?  Yes, sometimes they do.

She emphasizes....SOMETIMES!

What about the ones that affirmations do NOT work for? And if they don't work for 100 percent of us who really WANT them to work, what's the stumbling block?

The word is AFFORMATIONS!  Well as the old folk (one of which I'm rapidly becoming) said for years..."If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Well, an awful lot of people and families ARE broke, and as leaders we need to ask ourselves, what can we do to FIX IT? Congress takes forever and a century to figure it out and some of us are flat out tired of waiting on an answer.....

The answer is "AFFORMATION."

See, an AFFIRMATION (with an "I") is a statement of what we would like to have come true in our one very short, rapidly dwindling life here on earth. A lot of people run around saying "tell yourself ' I AM RICH'! So once you've said it, it's supposed to happen, correct?

The problem is that the 95% of the people who are forced, yes FORCED to attend professional and personal development seminars on their jobs or for their careers just because it will look good to an educational committee or some foundation to give more money away to an already lost cause....those 95% of people are going to be broke by age 65 and stay broke by age dead. Why? Because they didn't believe what they didn't think they deserved in the first place.

That's why some people choose to leave a particular city. The people around them are too stuck in "we ain't never gonna have nothin' anyway".....life's just too difficult for me right now....I'm takin' care of my cousin's kids 'cause she in rehab"....and nobody's got money to travel so I may as well cancel my....."  oh nevermind.  Just know everybody ain't fallin' for the recession lie. (Check out  www.drblueman.com and see what I mean by "the media lies", but first  we're gonna see if we can help some folks fix what's broke.)

You see, teachers (God bless 'em they need it) have taught us for years to say over and over all the warm fuzzy happy stuff and maybe, just MAYBE...they might kick right on in like  too much fruit cake and egg nog consumed at the holiday office party. But the brain, the human mind was designed to figure out stuff, not believe whatever it hears.

Instead of saying "I Am Rich," put a twist on it an ASK yourself the question, "WHY Am I Rich?" Start coming up with all the reasons all throughout the day as to how wonderfully and richly blessed you are. See, Dr. Denise said it's no different than you and a friend hearing a song on the radio, and your friend asks you, "hey that song was the bombdiggity back in the day! Who sang that?"

Now both of you KNOW the songwriter or the performer. Both of you used to sing it all the way to the concert before the performer hit the stage back in the 70s.  But it gets STUCK and won't come out! Some people call that "subconscious constipation."

But your brain knows it, and wants it to come out by any means necessary. So you all your Mama because she hated that song. You Google.com, you Lyrics.com, you AskJeeves.com, and call up Delilah on FM 105.7, you do everything you can because your brain is driving you nuts waking you up 3 hours before the alarm screams at you, all because of that song!

Why?.... BECAUSE YOU HAVE A PRE-EXISTING AFFORMATION IN YOUR HEAD THAT WILL NOT GO AWAY! You have a reason why...even though it won't pay you dime or make you famous...to figure out who sang that song! 

What an AFFORMATION (with an "O") does is this:
Since the human brain works on questions, not statements, we are not much different than the internet. Ever meet a 2 or 3 year old who never asked a question? Walking talking busy toddlers are perfect examples of bubbly LITTLE AFFORMATION MACHINES. Tiny Internet Protocols....or T.I.P's.

In fact just ask a toddler if they have to go potty? They'll look at you and THINK about it until their body tells them that they've had all the apple juice they can handle for the moment. So your little T.I.P. decides, "Time to Pee!" And if you take them to Disney, "Are we there yet...(5 seconds later) Are we there yet? (from here to eternity)


So think of your brain as a search engine, not a storage chest. Be your own "BING." Close your eyes when in a quiet place and mediate some meaning as to WHY something is important in your life. Then write down your "WHY!"

Without your why, your purpose with die. Then all we'd have to remember people with is an obitutary....a resume for the dead. By posing more questions that matter to our future to your brains, we might even live long enough to remember stuff next time around.