I am: How to Build or Destroy your Life

The Spirit of “I am”

On my job, I have the privilege of seeing people when they are not feeling their best. There are two kinds of people I see every day. People who embrace their mountains of challenges and become broken and transformed for the better as they walk through them and there are those who turn their molehills into mountains of problems that fall on them and crush them to pieces.

A few days ago, I was pondering on the things we do that have the power to create life or destroy it. One that stood out to me was the spirit of “I am“.  A spirit is a state of the heart.

One group of people adopt the state of the heart that is evident by the fact that everything that comes after their “I am” is life giving. They say I am strong; I am blessed; I am fortunate; I am able to handle this. You may call it a positive mindset or whatever you wish. The truth is that these people don’t feel like they are making something up. They aren’t simply pep-talking themselves. Every “I am” statement they make comes from a life-giving worldview that governs their lives.

The other group says I am unfortunate; I am not going to get better; I am not beautiful. Their “I am” spirit brings death.

There is great power in the words, “I am”. Everything that follows those two words has the power to make or break us.

Your words have the power to give life and death, first to you and then to others. Your thoughts can develop or destroy your life. 

The good news is that we can all change. You can replace your pessimism with positivity. You can trade your dirge for a love song.

Here is some life-giving advice. Change your ideology; shift your paradigm or mindset. Change your truth and accept the new truth that empowers you to truly believe and act in a life-giving way.

When you feel weak, say:

“I am a mighty man.” or “I am a mighty person”

“I am strong.”

When you lack courage, say:

“I am bold and courageous”

Don’t simply start saying things that you don’t believe. The goal is first to help you to see the truth about yourself and your life so that you can say these self-affirmations and others like it without feeling like you are deceiving yourself. Affirming what you don’t believe to be true can actually be harmful.

Self-affirmations that are built on a solid life-giving foundation of truth are key to overcoming your challenges and defeating the enemies of your life.