In Unity, we believe that all things work together for our highest good.”. “We pray to align ourselves with God and to allow ourselves to be inwardly guided to that good. Through affirmative prayer, we help co-create the good that is possible in our lives.” Lynne Brown, vice president of Unity’s 24/7 prayer ministry called Silent Unity.

Have you failed at trying to be something that you aren’t? Do you think you have failed because of something that you didn’t get? We pray for things that we think we want. We pray for things to change, whether it’s a new job, a relationship, new home, new opportunity, vacation, and the list goes on and on. We pray for things to improve with our current position, our relationships, family issues, the world issues and again, the list goes on. And it’s okay to ask for anything we desire!

Have you gotten exactly what you asked for, only to regret it later? I know I have! Many times in fact! I have been “blessed” with experiences that I prayed to God that I would get. My prayer requests have been granted, the non-material as well as the material ones.
However, once I received my “blessing”, I realized it was actually a curse that I was praying so diligently and desperately to occur.

And why was I asking, praying for this prayer to be answered? I know for me, I have asked for things that I knew deep in my soul were not right for me. I have taken jobs, for example that I knew that I would not be happy at. I have begged to be reconciled in more than one relationship that I knew was not a good fit for me. I have driven across town to buy the perfect pair of shoes that later I found out were so uncomfortable that I had to donate them to Goodwill!

Recently, I had to be honest with myself about a decision that I needed to make. I knew that I would never ever be happy if I did get my prayer answered. It was in a moment of fear, of going along with the flow, and agreeing to do something that I knew in my gut was not in my “highest good”.  The fear of doing something AGAIN, that I knew would make me miserable, made me come to a decision that I had to be authentic to myself.

I knew I owed it to myself to be honest, once and for all. I had to be honest and authentic to my soul. I had to tell my ego to “let go”, and to let things just fall as they may. I knew by stepping out of my fear of saying “yes” to something that I didn’t want, was probably going to be painful.

However, I pulled up my bootstraps, put on my big girl panties, and walked into the light of acceptance and authenticity for my soul. I said, “no”!  I said “NO! I do not want your “green eggs and ham”, to borrow from Dr. Seuss. Once I made the decision, and let the other party know of my decision, I still felt the fear, but more importantly, and to my surprise, I felt a huge sense of freedom! I was relieved!
I could have saved myself a whole week of going back and forth in my mind about what to do, IF I had just listened to my conscious, my soul, and my heart in the first place. It is a crazy idea that many of us have bought into, that we have to do “what is logical on paper, versus what is authentic to our individual soul”.

I am now in my very early 50’s. I was making a decision with the mindset of a young, scared teenager! I also know that I was trying to be a cat, when I AM A TIGER!

I have come so far to now go backwards, to think and to live as a cat when in fact, I am a tiger! I loved being a cat, but from now on, I have to remember that I am a tiger, and to make decisions that a tiger would make. I have out grown my cat body, my cat soul body…and deep in my heart of hearts, I knew that I was born a tiger but was living as a cat!

I was living as a cat due to my old thought patterns and habits. I was caught up in doing what was right for everyone else. I didn’t want to piss off the dogs, so to speak! And when I look back at the many prayers that I begged for, I thought at the time that I was doing it for the “right” reasons. But that is not the truth. I knew it then, I know it now. I was lying to my soul.

I also know that I was granted what I asked for because I needed those experiences to grow into the woman I am today. There were no accidents, or bad lesson, or bad experiences. The road to here has not been an easy one for me. Yet, I knew that when I made this recent decision to say “no”, that I was being true to myself. I listened to my soul’s voice, I accepted my soul’s advice, and acted on my soul’s quiet reassuring decision. And, lastly, I was fearing the worse, but when I told the other party that needed to say “no”, they were totally understanding, and said “no problem”!

My thoughts created this whole “story”, of the outcome, when none of it was true at all!  While writing this article, I was guided to look up the word “prayer”.  I first researched a couple of online dictionaries, but those definitions were not what I was looking for. While I agree with Dictionary.com’s definition, I was looking for an affirmation prayer definition. There is a difference.

Here is the word “prayer” defined by Dictionary. com: “1. a devout petition to God or an object of worship. 2. a spiritual communion with God or an object of worship, as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession. 3. the act or practice of praying to God or an object of worship. 4. a formula or sequence of words used in or appointed for praying: the Lord’s Prayer. 5. prayers, a religious observance, either public or private, consisting wholly or mainly of prayer.”

What I was searching for was the “Unity and The New Thought” definition of affirmative prayer.  To quote from Unity.org: “By using an affirmative prayer approach, we can visualize and plan for the future with faith that the power of God is continually blessing our lives with unlimited possibilities. Affirmative prayer leads to an awakening of our spiritual selves. In faith, we pray giving thanks in advance that the Universe is meeting our every need.” http://www.unity.org/prayer/what-affirmative-prayer

From now on, I will only pray,  for what I really, really want and need! I will not ask for a prayer to be answered for something that is not the right decision for me, or to just go along with the flow. The soul always knows!!

Are you trying to be something you aren’t? Are you trying to be a cat when you are indeed a tiger?  Maybe it’s time you ask your soul, what is in your best interest? I know for me personally, that God, the Universe, Spirit, “Higher Power”, whatever word I use to describe the infinite knowledge that dwells inside of me…(all of us), does give me,  everything I ask for! I know that the time is now to ask for not only what my soul desires, but also for my highest good!

I will continue to pray using the “affirmative prayer approach” with authenticity! I will be the “Tiger” that I was called to become!

If you desire to learn more about how Unity prays, or need a prayer request, here is their link: http://www.unity.org/prayer/about-silent-unity

Thank you for reading! Namaste, Kimberly