Florence Scovel Shinn, I feel, is the leading authority on affirmations. I love her book, The Wisdom of Florence Shovel Shinn. This book contains four of her books:

• The Game of Life and How to Play It
• The Power of the Spoken Word
• Your Word is Your Wand
• The Secret of Success

The saying: “Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.” is so true when reading Florence’s affirmations. Her book is my bible. I have been reading from it and applying her wisdom and using her affirmations for many years with much success. Her wisdom is timeless.

The remarkable thing is Florence was born in 1871, and she self-published her book, The Game of Life and How to Play It, in 1928! Incredible! What a way-shower and forerunner! I can only imagine self-publishing a book in 1928!! Her work has helped so many people and continues to ring true even today. I passed a copy of the book along to my sister and now I hear her quoting Florence! Awesome!

Florence’s books are filled with amazing wisdom and effective affirmations. I can not do them justice in a blog. I will attempt to hit some of the highlights here, but know, reading her books is the sure way to change your life. They have changed mine and countless others, and have restored perfect faith in my life! That is saying a lot!

The Game of Life

Florence writes: “Most people consider life a battle, but it is not a battle, it is a game.” She teaches that it is a game of giving and receiving run by spiritual laws. “Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.” She explains that whatever you send out into the world in “word and deed” comes back to you.

She quotes from Proverbs: “Keep thy heart (or imagination) with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” (Prov. 4:23) What we imagine externalizes in our lives and in order to be successful in the game of life, we must be trained to imagine only good things coming into our lives . . . “every righteous desire of his heart” – health, wealth, love, friends, perfect self-expression, and highest ideals.

Before I read Florence’s books I didn’t give affirmations much credence. They sounded like empty words with little meaning and didn’t seem to make a difference. Now, I know why. Florence says an affirmation must “click” with you in order to be effective. She says there are certain words or pictures which impress the subconscious mind and the affirmation should bring a vivid picture to mind. She uses an example from one of her clients she “treated”: I feel my purse heavy, crammed, jammed with money!

Never force a picture by visualizing; let the Divine Idea flash into your conscious mind. One should never use an affirmation unless it is absolutely satisfying and convincing to his own consciousness and often an affirmation is changed to suit different people.

Florence Scovel Shinn

The Darkness Before the Dawn

Florence warns us that a big demonstration is usually preceded by doubts and fear because we are challenging old beliefs in the subconscious. She calls them the “army of the aliens” that need to be cast out. If we have an underlying belief that we are unworthy or unloveable, saying an affirmation that has impressed itself on our subconscious will awaken these beliefs and they will want to be heard, causing much resistance. “Man can only receive what he sees himself receiving.” We must have perfect faith! “In fact, active faith is the bridge, over which man passes to his Promised Land.”

Florence writes:

“Continually affirming establishes the belief in the subconscious. It would not be necessary to make an affirmation more than once if one had perfect faith! One should not plead or supplicate, but give thanks repeatedly, that he has received. Demonstrations often come at the eleventh hour because man then lets go, that is, stops reasoning, and Infinite Intelligence has a chance to work. When a student is able to let go of his problem (cast the burden) he will have instantaneous manifestation.”

Preparing For Our Good

Florence calls this “digging ditches.” She mentions how the bible illustrates this:

The three kings were in the desert without water for their men and horses. They consulted the prophet Elisha, who gave them this astonishing message:

Thus said the Lord – Ye shall not see wind, neither shall you see rain, yet make this valley full of ditches.

“If one asks for success and prepares for failure, he will get the situation he has prepared for.” We must act “as if” and prepare for what we asked for, even when there is no sign of it happening. This also shows active faith. My partner and I wanted a home with a lovely garden so we purchased really nice leather garden gloves to prepare. At the time of the purchase, we hadn’t found a home yet, but we wanted to “dig a ditch” and show active faith. It paid off, because we ended up purchasing a home with a lovely garden!

As written in II Kings, the ditches dug by the three kings
in the desert were filled to over-flowing!

Every one of Florence’s words written in her books has purpose and meaning. I can not do them justice here, and would literally have to duplicate her books to pass along all the wisdom. There is so much!!  She gives loads of examples and provides hundreds of affirmations. I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite ones, but again, I suggest getting one or all of her books!! They apply to everything in life!

I CAST THE BURDEN ON THE CHRIST WITHIN AND I GO FREE.

INFINITE SPIRIT OPEN THE WAY FOR THE DIVINE DESIGN OF MY LIFE TO MANIFEST. LET THE GENIUS WITHIN ME NOW BE RELEASED, LET ME SEE CLEARLY THE PERFECT PLAN.

MY SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE GOOD NOW COMES TO PASS, THE UNEXPECTED NOW HAPPENS.

THERE IS NO COMPETITION ON THE SPIRITUAL PLANE. WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY MINE IS GIVEN UNDER GRACE.

I HAVE MAGICAL WORK IN A MAGICAL WAY, I GIVE MAGICAL SERVICE FOR MAGICAL PAY.

EVERY MAN IS A GOLDEN LINK IN THE CHAIN OF MY GOOD.

ALL THAT IS MINE BY DIVINE RIGHT IS NOW RELEASED AND REACHES ME IN GREAT AVALANCHES OF ABUNDANCE, UNDER GRACE IN MIRACULOUS WAYS.

I LOOK WITH WONDER AT THAT WHICH IS BEFORE ME.

I CALL ON THE LAW OF FORGIVENESS. I AM FREE FROM MISTAKES AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF MISTAKES. I AM UNDER GRACE AND NOT UNDER KARMIC LAW.

NEVER ARGUE WITH A HUNCH.

Be well on your journey!