discuss the infant as if he or she were not present, offering opinions
about the baby’s personality, bowel movements, progress toward toi-
let training, resemblance to relatives, and lots of other personal
characteristics. Today if two people had this same conversation
about you in your presence, you would be justifiably offended.
People seem to assume that since infants cannot speak, they
can’t understand. However, if you observe an infant in this situa-
tion, you’ll see that he or she is taking in every word (unless the
baby is asleep). Infants pay attention because they want to learn to
speak, and they will do so by imitating those around them. Nega-
tive conclusions can enter your mind if you overhear others dis-
cussing you.
WHAT LANGUAGE TO USE IN AFFIRMATIONS
IF ENGLISH IS YOUR SECOND LANGUAGE
You’ll make far more rapid progress writing affirmations in your
first language. Childhood rules and conditioning were imparted
to you in your mother tongue. Write your affirmations down in
your first language, even if you must consult a bilingual dictionary
to do so.
Dealing with Responses to Your Affirmations
Specific thoughts can limit your accomplishment and peace of
mind. You can’t change what you don’t know about. Positive think-
ing produces results that are usually minor and temporary because
you are not aware of these limiting thoughts. By writing your re-
sponse to each affirmation, your objections come to the fore. Let’s
say you write the affirmation “My income exceeds my expenses,”
and let’s say that your response is “(I am always broke).”
Now, it is important to realize that the limiting thought that
arose as your response has been creating results in your life for a
very long time. Furthermore, these results confirm the validity of
“(I am always broke).” The question then becomes: Is this thought
true? It is true in the limited sense that it conforms to your per-
sonal experience. For this reason, you must question “(I am always
broke)” a little further and ask, “Is this thought absolutely true?”
“Absolutely” means throughout all space and time, in all cases for
all people. Surely you can see that “(I am always broke)” is not ab-
solutely true; there have been times in your life when you have
had money, and other people have money, so you can, too. The
Dealing with Responses to Your Affirmations 167