Louise Hay is a motivational speaker and author who has helped millions of people with her message that positive thinking and the importance of self love can literally work wonders.
Hay was born in Los Angeles in 1926 to a poor mother and a violent stepfather who physically abused them both. When she was about five years old, she was raped by a neighbor. At 15, she became pregnant and dropped out of high school without a diploma, and on her 16th birthday she gave up her newborn baby girl for adoption. Hay then moved to Chicago where she worked in low-paying jobs, and she later launched a career as a fashion model during the 1950s. After a period of success, Hay married an English businessman, who left her for another woman.
Hay began to develop an interest in spirituality and the power of affirmations to heal emotional and physical pain. Affirmations are carefully formatted statements that are repeated to one’s self frequently, thereby re-programming the subconscious mind. For an affirmation to be effective, it needs to be present tense, positive, personal and specific. An example would be “I am healthy, happy and living a fulfilling and successful life.” According to Hay, if you say these words to yourself and a small interior voice balks at the ridiculousness of the affirmation, all the more reason to continue saying it to yourself. Soon, Hay insists, the doubts will subside and you will start to believe the statement. When you do, you are already well on your way to manifesting it as your reality.
In the late 1970s, Hay was diagnosed with ‘incurable’ cervical cancer, and she came to the conclusion that by holding on to her resentment for her childhood abuse and rape she had contributed to its onset. She claims to have refused conventional medicine and cured herself through the power of positive thinking, visualizations, reflexology, nutrition, and (last but certainly not least) the power of forgiveness.
Louise Hay is now 88 years old, and is a hero to millions of people around the world who testify that her methods can work miracles. Her 1984 book You Can Heal Your Life has now sold over 40 million copies. Her message is that every thought we think creates our future. If you tell yourself on a daily basis that you are a failure, that’s exactly what you will be. Our present reality is no more or less than the physical manifestation of past thoughts. The power of the mind cannot be understated. Athletes who believe they are going to win are far more likely to do so, and people who believe they deserve to be successful are far more likely to succeed.
Many of us have deep wounds and childhood issues that have caused a great deal of trauma and have adversely affected specific areas of our lives. Maybe you can’t hold down a relationship because your parents went through a messy divorce. Maybe you have drink, drug or anger management issues due to childhood neglect or abuse. Maybe no matter how hard you work, you can’t seem to make ends meet, because you were told at a young age that money is the root of all evil. Hay believes that all these problems, no matter how deeply rooted, can be overcome by re-programming the subconscious mind.
Even if all of this sounds like hippy drippy New Age bull to you, try to keep an open mind. It would be a mistake to ignore the testimonies of so many people who claim that Hay’s methods have turned their lives around. Hay often focuses on self love and self esteem as the core game-changer; it really is true that if you don’t like or respect yourself, nobody else will either. Most people are their own worst enemies: thoughts such as ‘I’m not good enough for her/him/that job’, ‘I’m useless/fat/ugly/lazy’, ‘I don’t deserve to be happy because I made a terrible mistake in the past’ are absolutely toxic for our success and well-being, especially if we are telling ourselves these things on a daily basis. Most of the time, we aren’t even aware of these negative thoughts. Positive affirmations, when repeated regularly, can act as a reset button and over-ride the toxic beliefs you have become so attached to. So start with yourself. Stop beating yourself up, stop with the constant self criticism, guilt, victimhood, fear and self-pity. Forgive yourself, and choose new thoughts to think about yourself!
The above video is just one of many you can use as a starting point on the road to recovery. Give it a go, it’s only 12 minutes long. We’d love to hear your feedback if this has worked for you! Leave us your story in the comment section.
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