Affirmations

If you have ever read or even heard of the The 5 Love Languages, seeing the word Affirmation should immediately bring to mind this particular "love language". But above and beyond the work that Dr. Gary Chapman has done, giving affirmations is not strange to our cultural milieu.

To affirm is to give validation, to confirm.

In fact, most self-help resources encourage us to speak positively to each other. To lift others up. To speak positively to ourselves. While most people do not make a big deal about this type of stuff,  I firmly believe that all of us need to hear and experience some form of affirmation on a regular basis. It replenishes our core. It confirms that what we are doing and/or who we are is important.

This post was the result of a very cheesy series of events that began in our office. Apparently, one person declared a specific day as belonging to another coworker. I came in just recently, heard about it and decided that I wanted a day too. So I put my name on the calendar and that particular day is mine. Well, we just celebrated two people recently and it was fun...cheesy but fun. This day isn't about expenses...what we have given is loving notes, small tokens of appreciation, and some very ecstatic exclamations: e.g. "Happy Gia Day!!!!". As I mentioned, it is seriously beyond cheesy (see picture below) but at the core of it, it is really soul affirming.

By nature, I am a nurturer and an encourager [if that is a word]. I love making people feel good about who they are. I think it actually makes me feel better about myself. That's one of my gifts..and because of this, I tend to make big deals out of what my husband would call "trivial stuff". I make a special effort to say "thank you", "I appreciate you/what you did","you are awesome!"; it is almost like a need for me to recognize the gifts, acts and personhood of others. I sometimes greet friends with pet names or terms of endearment like love, beautiful, dear, friend and so on...I refer to my husband as "handsome". ;) You get the point.

So yes, I can hear you now: most people are not like me, but it does not mean that you should be oblivious to this innate need that we all have. It doesn't take that much extra to offer an act or word of kindness, or even more than that, to provide a word or act of validation. So lets get started: make today YOUR day to celebrate yourself. If you can't think of anything positive about yourself, affirm yourself with what God thinks and says about you:

You are fearfully and wonderfully made, so you are no accident. (Psalm 139:14)

You are deeply loved, so much that he suffered death on the cross for your salvation. (John 3:16)

You are forgiven so you do not have to be weighed down under guilt (1 John 1:9)

You have a purpose and a positive future, so don't downplay your value to your family, community...world (Jeremiah 29:11)

You are royalty, a child of the King (1 Peter 2:9; 1 John 3:1)

Once you have taken YOUR day, I then want you to set aside another day to affirm everyone who comes in your path, recognizing that a simple "good morning" can be an affirmation. Think about the person who is used to be ignored, e.g. the homeless person on the street; for someone to stop, smile and acknowledge them would be an affirmation that they are human, worthy of acknowledgement. Obviously, I would challenge you to do a bit more than just "good morning", like you should find something nice, encouraging and positive to say or do for someone but in the very rough instances, I can settle for a smile and a genuine courteous word. I'll tell you a secret, even the meanest, roughest, most miserable person secretly appreciates someone to dote on them...at least once in a while. ;)

So, THANK YOU for stopping by and reading my blog!

Grace peace and love,
Gia

OH! My affirmation to you:

YOU are a designer's original, a one-of-a-kind. You have greatness within you and the world needs to experience it.