You Are Your Authority
Author: Linda-Ann Stewart

Years ago, I discovered that the critical people in my life, who loved to pick at me and tear me down, were just echoing the condemning voices in my head. I'd spent so much time distracted, defending myself against those outer critics, that I hadn't addressed the real issue, how I felt about myself. I'd given the past, and the people in it, authority over me.

Most of us have disapproving judgements about ourselves that tell us that we're not good enough. Maybe you have an inner critic that tells you that you can't do anything right, that you "should" be perfect, or that making a mistake is worse than death. I know of people who can't take a day off because they'd feel guilty. And others who refused to hire someone to paint their house because they felt they "ought" to do it. Your internal judge pounds you with its condemnations, both from within, using guilt, and outwardly by reflecting your inner feelings in how the people in your life treat you.

Many people who have rebelled against authority figures in the past tend to have problems now with bosses, police, the IRS, etc. They defy internalized critical messages from their childhood environment, and don't accept responsibility for their actions. Therefore, the energy that they have resisted and disowned increases and echoes back to them from the world.

Whatever you feel victimized by will mirror in your life. Just as my environment had been reflecting back to me what was already in my consciousness. I had to change my attitude from defending myself to addressing the internal messages from a position of strength. As I took responsibility for my own well being, the critics began to fade out of my life. I'm not saying it was easy. It wasn't. But once I convinced myself that no one had the right to put me down, including my internal critic, my life began to improve.

When you listen to the critical things that you say to yourself, you can begin to deal with them. As with everything in the subconscious, they once had a reason and a purpose to protect you. Although they've been trying to help you, they've been doing it in a way that you have outgrown. Those messages were patterned on the authority figures in your childhood so that you could fit into the conditions at that time. But they are no longer necessary, and won't realize it until you tell them so. Believe it or not, they're waiting for you to assert your power over them and reclaim your authority.

If the old ideas are telling you that you don't deserve good, or that you're not worthy, realize that the Universe has much more authority than the people who implanted those beliefs in you. And the Infinite knows that you deserve all the good that Life has to offer. Spirit is stronger than any outdated attitude. A Divine truth is that the Universe wants you to accept and express the wholeness of your being.

You have the right to re-examine the standards by which you have lived your life. Those condemning internal messages have been trying to keep you living within the bounds of someone else's values. With all the knowledge you now have, you can change the attitudes that no longer serve you. Using affirmations and Divine guidance, you can transform the outdated values into ones that are in alignment with love, harmony, joy, abundance, and all the good there is.

Affirmations I used during this period were, "I am the authority in my life" and "I own my authority." I had to review all the standards I'd grown up with, reassess them and release the ones that no longer served me. When I began to do this, it was scary. The first few times that I stood up for myself, I felt the sky might fall. It didn't. Instead, the Universe rushed in to support me and my world expanded. The same will be true for you.

Affirmation:
I know that the Universe supports me in the good that I desire. The only one that keeps my good from me is my own thoughts about it. I now release any old concepts that might have restricted my acceptance of all the good I desire. As I place my desire in my mind, knowing that I deserve it, then the All of the Universe rushes in to fulfill it in a perfect way.








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Linda-Ann Stewart is a nationally known hypnotherapist, writer, and workshop facilitator with over twenty-five years background in spiritual development and metaphysics. A resident of Sedona, Arizona since 1982, she opened her private hypnotherapy practice in the Sedona area in 1990. At her Web Site, http://www.cedarfire.com, she offers personal development articles, affirmations, individualized affirmations, online spiritual growth courses, audio tapes and a free monthly newsletter. She can be reached at linda-ann@cedarfire.com.

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