Step Three:
______________________________
Made a decision to align my life (will, thoughts, and actions) with my highest good and the Spirit of Life.
I understand that the universe is benevolent, that Supreme Spirit has no will that goes against what I wish for myself.
To the extent that I am able to align my thought, will, and action with the Ever-Positive Spirit of Life, to that extent am I able to partake (and directly experience) the divine qualities of Spirit in myself—qualities such as love, joy, aliveness, abundance, creative power, and beauty.
I will align myself with that which is positive and life-affirming (which is the true nature of Spirit). I will endeavor to think positive, to see the highest (in myself and others), and to align my thoughts and actions with that which is positive, uplifting, and life-affirming. As such, I will not align my thoughts and actions with the negative; I will not accept nor entertain nor dwell on the negative nor with that which is not uplifting and beneficial—for such thoughts and actions lack the true qualities of the Spirit of Life. I will affirm my own positive nature and always hold to that which is positive.
My human side will act in service to my divine self.
I will live a life that is life-affirming. I will see and support the highest in myself and in others. I will think positive, true, and noble thoughts, and give no heed or attention to the negative. Spirit is wholly positive and always of the nature of Life; Spirit creates this whole universe though that which is positive, truthful, benevolent, loving, and life-affirming. Thus, I will live as Spirit lives.
I acknowledge that through my previous efforts—based on a limited view of myself and made without access to my higher wisdom and power—I was unable to realize wholeness and integrity in my life. Understanding this, I will make a conscious effort to access my higher wisdom, and to align my thoughts and actions with Supreme Spirit—allowing the benevolent influx of Spirit to enter (and be a basis of) my thoughts and actions.
As part of the allowing the influx of Spirit in my life, I will openly accept help and support from others and, in kind, offer help and support to others.
Life is Always Positive
The essential understanding of this step is that Spirit, being one with Life, is purely positive, and must always create from the position of the Affirmative. This is the position of Life. That which lacks life (i.e., fear and death) and that which lacks the pure positivity of Spirit, cannot be aligned with Spirit nor its life-affirming qualities. Thus, all thoughts and actions which are aligned with Spirit and Life—and which carry the beneficence of Spirit—always proceeds from the positive and the life-affirming. In terms of a person’s intentions, only positive intentions, only creations springing from positivity, can create positive results—results in alignment with the life-affirming nature of Spirit. Creations (and thoughts and actions) springing from negativity, fear, frustration, anger, etc. (i.e., all those things which are alien to Spirit’s own nature) lack Spirit and Life and cannot produce positive results—results which bring about more love, joy, aliveness, fullness, freedom, power, and beauty. In sum, only human actions (and thoughts) that are brought about with the pure qualities of Spirit can produce results that also embody Spirit and its qualities.
This step is about orienting oneself and one’s consciousness with the positive pole of life; it’s about entertaining the positive (and the highest potential) in oneself and in others. It is about assuming the highest, holding to the highest, and embracing the highest potential. It is about supporting the positive in others; supporting the ideals and aspirations of others. Foremost, it involves thinking positive thoughts and ignoring (or not entertaining) negative and debasing thoughts. Through constant and conscious application of the positive we want to effectuate a positive change in our subconscious mind. In this way, positivity will become “second nature” to us; without any conscious intervention we will naturally think in a way that is positive and in alignment with the true nature of Spirit.
When you understand your own creative power you will begin to use that power wisely, in a way that is beneficial and uplifting. You will begin to see the tangible harm that results from your own negative thinking. Thinking negative thoughts, indulging in negative emotions, and having a negative view of life will bring those qualities into your life. By embracing the positive you affirm you own existence; by embracing the negative you negate your own existence (and all the qualities—such as love, joy, freedom, aliveness, and beauty—which are integral to your own nature. Thus, in all cases, the only beneficial course is to hold to that which is positive, life-affirming, and in accord with your own nature.
This step involves the conscious cultivation of positive thoughts; thinking about what you want and not about what you don’t want. It also involves the cultivation of pure or positive intentions. Since Spirit is purely positive every intention that is positive produces results in line with Spirit (and its qualities) whereas any intention which is negative or harmful does not produce positive results. Part of being positive is to leave things better than you found it. If you borrow something, return it in a better condition than you found it. If you go someplace, leave it better than you found it. If you enter a person’s life, or any situation, let your positive influence improve the conditions for everyone involved.
Individual action, which aligns one’s life with Spirit, is called “right effort” or action in accord with the movement of the universe. This is the joyful effort—self-supported by its resonance with Spirit—which an individual must exert to overcome the mass-conditioning of his past, and bring himself to a higher standard and a fuller awareness of his total self.
The degree to which one’s will, thoughts, and actions are in accord with Spirit (and the highest truth) to that degree does a person enjoy and express the Infinite wonder of Spirit (and all its qualities) in his life; to that degree does his life and actions resonate with the pure affirmation of Spirit.
Quotes
The Affirmative Spirit of Life
The professed object of the Bible is to establish and extend “the Kingdom of God” throughout the world, and this can be done only by repeating the process from one individual to another, until the whole mass is leavened. It [establishing the Kingdom of Heaven] is thus an individual process; and, as we have discussed, God is Spirit and Spirit is Life, and, therefore, the expansion of “the Kingdom of God” means the expansion of the principle of Life in each individual. Now Life, to be life at all, must be Affirmative. It is Life in virtue of what it is, and not in virtue of what it is not. The quantity of life in any particular case may be very small; but, however small the amount, the quality is always the same; it is the quality of Being, the quality of Livingness, and not its absence, that makes it what it is. The distinctive character of Life, therefore, is that it is Positive and not Negative; and every degree of negativity, that is, every limitation, is ultimately traceable to a deficiency of Life-affirming power.
(Troward, The Hidden Power, 166)
The Great Affirmative
The Great Affirmation is the perception that the “I AM” is ONE, always harmonious with itself, and including all things in this harmony for the simple reason that there is no second creative power; and when the individual realizes that this always-single power is the root of his own being, and therefore has centre in himself and finds expression through him, he learns to trust its singleness and the consequent harmony of its action in him with what it is doing around him. . .
In this way our affirmation of the “I am” ceases to be the petulant assertion of our limited personality and becomes the affirmation that the Great I AM affirms its own I AM-ness both in us and through us, and thus our use of the words becomes in very truth the Great Affirmative, or that which is the root of all being as distinguished from that which has no being in itself but is merely externalized by being as the vehicle for its expression.
(Troward, Doré Lectures, Chapter 7)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
<< Step 2 HOME Step 4 >>
