For many years, I was not a fan of affirmations. Somehow, affirmations seemed a bit like whistling in the dark – trying to stave off the demons and monsters in my head (notably fear and worry) with false statements I knew weren’t true.

But what I didn’t understand is that affirmations are prayers – positive ones. I also didn’t understand that worrying and fretting are also prayers – negative ones. Today I shudder to think how many years I spent suffering in painful anxiety and fear – especially anxiety and fear about money.

About fifteen years ago, my friend Sam recommended a book to me – The Wealthy Spirit by Chellie Campbell. It’s one of those 365 page books that you read only one page a day – it’s a daily meditation about money. Each page begins with an inspirational quote, then tells a story relevant to the quote, and ends with an affirmation. Oh yuck, an affirmation, I thought to myself.

Around that same time, several other friends told me they were getting great results by using affirmations. Receiving the same message from a number of people was no coincidence, I thought, so decided to set aside my skepticism and give the affirmations a try. What the heck? I thought, I’m not getting the financial results I want by doing things my way, so I might as well try something new.

The first affirmation in Chellie Campbell’s book is “People love to give me money.” I repeated the affirmation again and again as I walked my dog in the morning. I repeated it again and again that evening, as I drove to meet a date for dinner. He bought me a lovely dinner at a pricey steakhouse and we enjoyed our time together. At the end of our meal, he walked me through the restaurant lobby and toward the front door. He stopped at the front desk to get change for a hundred dollar bill. When he got his change, he turned to me and pressed a bunch of bills into my hand. “Here’s for the valet,” he said. I smiled and said “thank you” – inside my head, all I could hear was “People love to give me money.”

The next day, my cousin came over to visit. She handed me a hundred dollars, in twenties.

“What’s this for?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s the money I owe you from last summer,” she replied.

“You don’t owe me any money,” I said, “I’m sure I would remember if you owed me money.”

“Just never mind,” she dismissed my objection.

“Well, OK,” I said. And once again, in my head, I heard “People love to give me money.”

I few days later, I drove to San Diego to visit my mother and celebrate my birthday. I rang the doorbell and my stepfather answered the door. He let me in and then excused himself to get something from his home office. He came back and handed me $50.

“What’s this, birthday money?” I asked. (He had never given me money on any previous occasion during the 25 years he’s been with my mother.)

“Nope, it’s for the postage you spend, sending me jokes in the mail all the time. I just want you to know I appreciate it,” he replied.

“You don’t have to pay the postage,” I explained. “It’s my pleasure to send you the jokes.”

“Keep the money,” he insisted. “I want you to.”

So I pocketed the money and hummed quietly to myself, “People love to give me money.”

Three money gifts in less than a week was enough to get me to reconsider my previous attitude toward affirmations. Money was showing up in new and surprising ways – what more proof did I need?

I spent the next year working with the affirmations in The Wealthy Spirit, and making up some of my own as well. Now I’m a believer, for sure. I’ve had great results – not just with money, but with other aspects of life, too. Affirmations are prayers – powerful, positive prayers!

And on the rare occasion when my old skepticism rears its ugly head again, I counter the voice of doubt with my new favorite affirmation:

“My affirmations are working, whether I believe they are or not.”