Affirmation Game

Play this game with two or more friends. It can be played with just two people, but three makes the game more entertaining. Explain the game and enlist their hearty support or do not play the game with them. Your friends should be “all for it”, and see it as an interesting experiment to try, and that it will be fun too.

Select a small statue that you have handy (or perhaps even purchase one) for this exercise. The appropriateness of the statue for the game will be almost insignificant if the game is played with heart, but it’s okay to select a statue that harmonizes with your particular game’s intent (explained below). So, if you have a small action figure or some such item, it will do fine.

Here is how the game is played:

You agree with all your friends that whenever any of you see this statue, then that perception, like a string around your finger, will be a signal for you to mentally recite an affirmation. You can all agree on a particular affirmation, but for the purpose of this exercise, use the following affirmation for your first game: “I am so powerful that I can easily change or erase any conditioned response of my mind.”

This affirmation is said, mentally, once, and then the statue is picked up and physically moved to another place where it will “await” one of the other players. Whoever sees it next, does this same mental recitation, and again, moves the statue to another place.

The element of surprising the others with the new location adds to the fun of the game, but the statue should be easily seen. When a player relocates the statue, there should be an attempt to do this without being discovered, so that this surprise element is maintained. No points are awarded. The game is rewarding in and of itself. All win. Agree to a time limit of at least a day, but a week is suggested. After that, have some sort of ceremony to retire this statue, and then choose another if you wish to continue the game with a different affirmation.

Ask yourself:

Did the affirmation become truer for me in any way–such as, it became more believable as a concept, or I gained more confidence that I could “tune myself?”

How much did I enjoy being clever setting up the statue for the other players? Did I feel younger? Did I feel like I was giving them a gift? How much do I play in my daily life?

Did I feel like I was being mentally healthy playing this game?

When I was surprised, how did it feel to be uncertain whom to thank for the pleasant feeling? What did I do with feelings that had no targets? Was I content to radiate the feelings of surprised delight without the payoff of seeing the other player enjoying my surprise?

Who manufactures all my feelings? Can I have wonderful feelings for no reason whatsoever? Do I have to have a reason? Can I cheat and just have great feelings when no one’s looking?

Whenever I saw the statue, was I aware of any permission process occurring? Did I have to tell myself it was okay to feel pleasure, delight, and gratitude? How often in life do I discover an operating law within me that says I should withhold or dampen pleasurable feelings in certain situations or with certain persons? Can I really laugh at a good joke in front of a dying person?

In my daily life, how often do I have to have, or pretend to have, certain emotions? If I were perfectly psychologically healthy, would I ever have an emotion that was disharmonious with my environment?

How often do I have a feeling that I wish I could instantly stop having?

How often do I wish I could have a feeling that I am not having?

In what sense, was I “in love” with the other players?