I am often astounded at what and why people believe what they do. I am sure that you too have noticed that some people believe in the oddest things. I am more than astounded at how seldom people actually think about their beliefs and how those beliefs impact on the quality of their lives. Believe it or not, your beliefs can actually determine the results you end up with in life; results like happiness, health and wealthimportant things like that. Believe it or not, most people (probably including you) have adopted several core beliefs that literally cripple their ability to achieve the levels of success they aspire to. And, believe it or not, many of these same folks will likely claim that those very same crippling beliefs are not only of value, but are even more than a simple adopted beliefthey will claim them to be THE truth. Believe it or not, beliefs can be consciously chosen instead of unconsciously adopted. Believe it or not, there is no particularly good reason to believe most of what people do. What is even more astounding is that most people hold a great number of beliefs that they have not actually given any thought to and, it is likely, never actually chose to hold or take on as a primary determining factor in how their lives turns out. Believe it or not, you probably believe many things simply because you have been told to; and, you have likely never questioned the validity of these beliefs. You may even believe that it is WRONG to question the validity of some beliefs. You may even be too frightened to question some of your core beliefs; scared to question the sacred. Believe it or not, the sad likelihood is that you have been and are being brainwashed to believe certain things. The worst part of this brainwashing is that you have also been convinced to believe that it is wrong to even question these beliefs. That is not to say that all of this brainwashing is done with malevolent intent; it is very possible that some of those people who were (and are) your major influencers (causing you to adopt these beliefs) acted or are acting with good intent. But, as the old saw goesthe highway to hell is paved with good intentions. OK; you have some beliefs that you did not actually consciously choose to hold and you have some beliefs that do NOT actually serve you and your self-actualization. Now what? In order to become a fully functioning human being and in order to achieve any measure of enlightenment, it is necessary to NOT ONLY critically examine all of ones beliefs, especially those most deeply held, fundamental core beliefs, it is also necessary to consciously choose to either discard or re-adopt those beliefs. Until you develop the willingness to critically examine all your beliefs and then the courage to discard all those that do not serve you and the wisdom to adopt only those that do serve you and your aspirations, you will forever be held back, imprisoned by your very same beliefs that you think you hold but actually hold you. Freedom and abundance await those who take control of their beliefs and stop being controlled by them. In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing. Mark Twain Man's most valuable trait is a judicious sense of what not to believe. Euripides "Man is what he believes. Anton Chekhov The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact than a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality. George Bernard Shaw A man has to believe in something. I believe Ill have another beer. Anonymous I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong. Bertrand Russell They were so strong in their beliefs that there came a time when it hardly mattered what exactly those beliefs were; they all fused into a single stubbornness. Louise Erdrich Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. Lewis Carroll I believe in a sentient earthGaia. Some tell me that is a bit odd. People I know believe in various quite odd other things like: a flat earth, a hollow earth (filled with nasty sentient reptiles), cloned earth (hiding on other side of sun), alien infested earth (Martians hiding in caves in Arizona), earth as savior of universe (as soon as we get it, the whole universe will get it), earth as prison of universe (like Australia was for UK), earth as testing station for entry into higher ground (graduate from here to a really good placelike heaven), earth as resource to be plundered and raped quick before Armageddon gets here, earth as just another rock in space, et cetera. What people believe is most often either inanity or insanity. I choose to believe in life itself as a form of consciousness. Leslie Fieger "The outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to reflect their inner beliefs." James Allen |
