The welcome monsoons have come to our arid desert. We've had some drenching thunderstorms recently. Although it can be frustrating and inconvenient having to stop working on the computer while lightening flashes overhead, I'm glad we're finally getting some rain in the southwest U.S.

I could have gotten upset and made myself miserable (or emotionally miserable, as I was already physically uncomfortable) about the situation. Instead, I took a more objective view of the experience and kept it in perspective. The incident wasn't going to last more than thirty minutes in our entire lifetime, and it was going to become a good story to tell. So why should I let its importance get blown out of proportion?

I have a favorite saying, "Everything is relative." I don't believe in a black and white world, nor do I believe that there are absolutes (except for the Universal Absolute of love). All of our beliefs, attitudes, and experiences are in relation to everything else in our lives. For example, a person may enjoy eating high fatty foods and not exercising. Then one day, their doctor says, "You have heart disease, and unless you change your lifestyle, you're going to die." The patient now has to make a decision about what they want most.

All of a sudden, they realize that their pleasurable life is killing them. They have to change their perspective towards their lifestyle to continue to live. If they love life, then they'll choose to permanently change their menu and activity level. In the span of a day, the importance has shifted from one type of enjoyment (cakes, sauces, butter) to another kind (mobility, breathing, continuing to be with loved ones).

I've known many people who had a diagnosis of heart disease, diabetes, or respiratory problems from smoking that suddenly transformed their viewpoint about their way of life. They either had to change or suffer a lesser quality of life. However, they didn't just go through the motions of modifying their habits, without adjusting their view of them. To be successful, they had to make their changes mental and emotional, and not just behavioral by quitting smoking or altering their diet. They became highly motivated to make the changes at every level of their being. What was important in their lives switched from one day to the next.

This is true in every area of our lives. For example, Josie refused to talk to her friend due to a minor disagreement. Then she heard the friend had lost her job, her partner, and had a health scare. Suddenly the dispute paled in comparison to Josie's concern for her. Her point of view about the situation shifted.

It's like looking through a kaleidoscope, then turning the far end. When you do, the pieces of brightly colored glass move around so that you see a completely different pattern. The same pieces of glass are there, but their design has been radically rearranged. We don't tend to let go of the familiar until it becomes more trouble than it's worth and our perception of it changes. Then, the formerly comfortable becomes less important than the new objective, and we're willing to put our energy towards improving our lives.

Answer: There are a couple of things to do to increase the power of affirmations that have been used. The first would be to actually affirm the affirmation. It sounds odd, but you would affirm that the original affirmations are actually in Universal Mind and your creative mind, that they're already working even if you don't know how it's happening or how it could manifest. Affirming that you know that it's being done, or affirming that you trust your subconscious to take what you've impressed on it and bring it into manifestation. What you're doing is increasing your belief in the affirmation actually working. And you can also just affirm that the affirmations are increasing in power eachtime you say them.

Another thing you can do is to back off of stating affirmations for specific things. Instead, use affirmations that increase your general acceptance of all things good. Although specific affirmations bring specific results, sometimes we get too tense about the specifics, and try to will them into being. This just blocks the ability of the subconscious to manifest. All the energy is going into the willpower and trying to control the manifestation. By backing away, and just beginning to affirm a greater acceptance of all good, it begins to broaden the scope of your consciousness and opens it to a greater range of good. Something like: "All the good of the Universe is already mine. I'm allowing myself to experience more of all the good that there is in all areas of my life."

Also, whenever you think of the issue you're affirming, remind yourself that your affirmation has already taken care of it. This gives the affirmation more power. Remember that the more you wonder when, why or how it'll be done, that siphons energy away from manifesting the affirmation. It's not easy, but each time you use an affirmation, have the attitude that it is now done, even if you can't see any evidence of it at that time.