Ten Tips For Empowering Women

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The following ideas are taken from Louise L. Hay’s book, Empowering Women, Every Woman’s Guide to Successful Living. Hay is the author of 18 books, including You Can Heal Your Life.

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The smallest positive change in your thinking can begin to unravel the biggest problem. When you ask the right questions of Life, Life will answer. There are many ways to make our changes. We could also begin to honestly look at our flaws NOT by looking at what is WRONG with us, but to see the barriers that we have put up that keep us from being all that we learned in childhood. They never were true for us. We merely accepted someone else’s belief system. If we learned these thoughts once, then we can now unlearn them. We acknowledge that we are willing to learn to love ourselves. And then we develop a few guidelines.

1. Stop Criticism – It is a useless act; it never accomplishes anything positive. Don’t criticize yourself; lift that burden from yourself. Don’t criticize others either, as the faults we usually find in others are merely projections of the things we don’t like in ourselves. Thinking negatively about another person is one of the greatest causes of limitation in our own lives. Only we judge ourselves, not Life, not God, not the Universe.

2. Don’t Scare Yourself – We all want to stop that. Too often we terrorize ourselves with our own thoughts. We can only think one thought at a time. Let’s learn to think in positive affirmations. In this way, our thinking will change our lives for the better. If you catch yourself scaring yourself again, immediately say, “I release the need to scare myself. I am a divine, magnificent expression of life, and I am living fully from this moment on.”

3. Be Committed to the Relationship – You Have With Yourself We get so committed to other relationships, but we tend to toss ourselves away. We get around to ourselves now and then. So, really care for who you are. Be committed to loving yourself. Take care of your heart and soul.

4. Treat Yourself as Though You Are Loved – Respect and cherish yourself. As you love yourself, you will be more open to love from others. The Law of Love requires that you focus your attention on what you do want, rather than what you don’t want. Focus on loving you.

5. Take Care of Your Body – Your body is a precious temple. If you are going to live a long, fulfilling life, then you want to take care of yourself now. You want to look good, and most of all, feel good and have lots of energy. Nutrition and exercise are important. You want to keep your body flexible and moving easily until your last day on the planet.

6. Educate Yourself – Too often we complain that we don’t know this or that and we don’t know what to do. But we are bright and smart, and we can learn. There are books and classes and tapes everywhere. If money is a consideration, then use the library. Find a self-help group. They are listed under Community Services in the yellow pages of the telephone book. I know I shall be learning until my very last day.

7. Build a Financial Future For Yourself – Every woman has a right to have money of her own. This is a significant belief for us to accept. It is part of our self-worth. We can always start on a small level. The important thing is that we keep saving. Affirmations are good to use here.

8. Fulfill Your Creative Side – Creativity can be any activity that fulfills you. It can be anything from baking a pie to designing a building. Give yourself some time to express yourself. If you have children and time is short, find a friend who will help you take care of your children, and vice versa. You both deserve time for yourselves. You are worth it.

9. Make Joy and Happiness the Center of Your World – Joy and happiness are always within you. Make sure you are connected with this place inside of you. Build your life around this joy. When we are happy, we can be creative, we don’t sweat the small stuff, and we are open to new ideas.

10. Have Integrity – Keep Your Word In order to honor and respect yourself, you must have integrity. Learn to keep your word. Do not make promises you will not keep even to yourself. Don’t promise yourself you will start the diet tomorrow or exercise every day unless you know you will follow through. You want to be able to trust yourself.

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