Affirmation · “The Subconscious Says Yes”
Taking the Thought of Health
Take up and inwardly affirm — with quiet conviction, not rote words — that one is meant to be well and strong, and that one’s life is one with the one divine Life of which wholeness is the nature.
From a quiet mind, take the plain thought — “It is right that I should be well and strong” — as a right, not a plea. Root it in unity: “all life is one; in God we live and move and have our being.” Affirm wholeness as your “reasonable service.” Feel it true rather than reciting it, and carry it as a settled conviction. Adjunct only — keep your medical care.
What it is
Patterson’s affirmation is the constructive companion to changing the mental attitude: having turned from dwelling on imperfection, you take up a definite thought of health and hold it with conviction.
His simplest form is plain: “To be well and strong let us take this thought: ‘It is right that I should be well and strong.’” The conviction rests on his unity premise — “The New Thought healer affirms that all life is one; that in God ‘we live and move and have our being.’” — so to affirm health is to align with the one Life of which wholeness, not disease, is the nature.
The affirmation is a taken thought held with feeling, not a magic phrase repeated mechanically.
The Method
Faithful to Patterson (The Will to Be Well, esp. “Unity of Life,” “What the New Thought Stands For,” “Hearing and Doing”):
- Settle and quiet first. Affirmation lands best from stillness; come to it calm rather than anxious or straining.)
- Take the plain thought of right wellness. Use Patterson’s own form: “It is right that I should be well and strong.” Take it as a right, not a plea.
- Root it in unity. Hold the larger ground — “all life is one; that in God ‘we live and move and have our being.’” Your life is the one Life; wholeness is its nature.
- Affirm wholeness as your true service. Patterson frames health as something owed and offered: “It is right that each and every individual should present his body whole and acceptable unto God, for this is his reasonable service.”
- Feel it, don’t recite it. The operative element is conviction and quiet feeling, not the count of repetitions — take the thought until it feels true, not merely said.
- Hold it as a standing conviction. Return to the affirmation at chosen times and carry it through the day as a settled attitude, letting it govern how you meet the body. (Sourcing note: quoted phrases are Patterson’s own words; the numbered structure is an attributed reconstruction of his teaching.)
Source & Lineage
Charles Brodie Patterson (1854-1917) was a central early New Thought figure who gave the movement’s affirmative-treatment idea a warm, non-sectarian voice.
The affirmative cure runs Quimby → Evans → Hopkins → Fillmore/Cady → Patterson and the wider New Thought writers. Contrast (don’t duplicate):
- Trine’s holding the thought of perfect health is the closest neighbour and is built around a felt inflow of Infinite Life; Patterson’s form is plainer — “It is right that I should be well and strong” — and frames wholeness as a right and a service.
- Coué’s autosuggestion drills a fixed formula by mechanical repetition; Patterson takes a thought held with conviction, not a counted drill.
- Cady / Hopkins denial-affirmation treatments use a structured denial step; Patterson affirms wellness and unity directly without arguing error out.
Common refinements
Treating it as a cure / delaying care. The single most dangerous error. Keep your treatment.
- Reciting without conviction. Mechanical repetition is the weak form; take the thought until it feels true.
- Affirming at a feared symptom. Tense, anxious affirming aimed at fighting a symptom backfires; affirm from calm, having first turned attention (see the right-thinking practice).
- Reading a good feeling as a verdict. Feeling well-affirmed is a state, not proof the body has healed.