The Simplicity of Affirmations

How to make writing affirmations easy to help you live off the page of your journal. And affirmations to help you start your journey!

Simplicity (noun): the quality or condition of being easy to understand or do

When I first started writing affirmations, I don't think “simple” was a word I would use to describe it. Affirmations were uncomfortable for a person like me who spent so much time overthinking and replaying negative thoughts. Each time I would begin to write what felt good, my mind would have an immediate rebuttal, almost refusing to see myself differently.

All habits take time and consistency to build, so I knew that would be no different for writing affirmations. But even deeper than that, I needed affirmations to help me be a better, kinder person to myself. I didn’t like replaying negative thoughts constantly, but I kept doing it. I didn’t like not believing in myself, but I refused to show up the way I needed to. I was ready to flip a switch and knew I had to dig deep to make this change.

I started my most recent Angel Talks YouTube Live not knowing what I was going to talk about, but deciding to show up anyway. Then as I got into my natural flow, and talking about the Off The Page affirmation guide, I realized a really important point that I need to convey.

Writing affirmations becomes simple when you understand what you need to hear. In the Off The Page affirmation guide I provide 3 steps that outline how to begin to take affirmations off the page of your journal to transform the way you show up in the world. When I think of how to make affirmations easy to do and understand, it’s no surprise that I thought of the following affirmation to describe it:

I must address what I suppress, so I can progress.

Suppressing your emotions

Growing up I felt like a soda bottle when it came to managing my emotions. Trying to hold in the “ugly” emotions to uphold the outer persona I wanted others to see. I was the smiley, good student, who stayed out of everyone’s way, no one wanted to see me sad or angry. So when those emotions came up I immediately stuffed them and put on my happy face or went quiet and isolated myself.

Suppress (verb): to restrain from a usual course or action.

By not allowing myself to face my emotions as they came and instead storing them up inside of me, it caused an unhealthy imbalance. And without fail every few months (or even weeks) I would reach a breaking point, and I would have a full outburst. It always felt random and out of place when I would get abruptly upset about something. But it was because even when you suppress your emotions, it doesn’t mean they go away. I needed to find a way to face my emotions head on as they came.

Address what you need

When I take time to journal and write about what’s currently on my mind and heart, it often gives clarity to something beneath the surface I didn’t know was there. Let’s go back to October 7th, 2024 here’s an excerpt from my journal entry:

“Life as an adult can be very overwhelming at times. There's so much to focus on and it makes me feel incapable. I get anxious thinking I'm doing something wrong…”

Before I grabbed my journal to begin writing, I already felt overwhelmed. I could’ve let those feelings keep me still and weigh me down, but instead I got up and decided to address my emotions directly. Often the best way to understand what’s happening on the inside of you is to get it out on paper to really get a grasp of it. Our minds have a tendency to overcomplicate, so we owe it to ourselves to make things easier.

After taking time to journal and express my emotions, I then turn to writing affirmations to address what I need to hear.

Affirmations written on October 7th, 2024 to address my anxious feelings.

Progress in the right direction

Writing affirmations helps reveal the truth that was beneath my emotions. It offers me peace when I reach a deeper understanding of myself, but it doesn’t stop with what I write in my journal. I then have to take daily action to progress in the right direction by living out my affirmations off the page.

“I process my emotions.”

The next time anxious feelings arise about adulting or life in general, I am able to call it out immediately and talk through how I am feeling either with a friend or by journaling. I now know that suppressing does not help me, but hurts me.

“I acknowledge my mistakes, but I am not defined by them.”

A reminder that mistakes happen and will continue to happen. But that doesn’t mean that I have to be weighed down by them. Instead I can see mistakes as past experiences I can learn from to do better moving forward.

I wrote the following simple affirmations for anyone who wants to start their affirmation journey:

I hope you are able to see just how simple affirmations can be when you allow yourself into the deeper parts of you. You deserve to show up authentically everyday. Thank you for being here.