In Order To Believe
When you and I were children, what was necessary in order for us to believe anything was possible?
Not a lot right?
As teens, young adults and even elders we become conditioned to think otherwise.
“As adults we seem to always be focused on what we want and become frustrated when we receive what we need. (Normally in the form of a problem) Many times the problem is preparing us with the experiences and lessons to appreciate the want. Otherwise we wouldn’t value it.“
Conditioning keeps us from believing we’re capable. This tends to happen unconsciously because of the environments we’re in. In many cases people aren’t conscious of surrounding relationships and how they are impacting (Conditioning) their beliefs.
Conditioning can assist us in believing anything is possible. This requires conscious effort on our part. It’s also known as work such as commitment, rituals, habits or whatever other label you want to put on consistency. It means putting ourselves in successes way.
“Our Biggest problem is that we don’t think we’re supposed to have problems. Problems are what sculpt our soul.”– Tony Robbins
What you believe with the most amount of feeling behind it, becomes your truth.
Belief Is A Feeling Of Certainty
Below are some of my beliefs I’ve chosen to condition within myself and the philosophies behind them. These are only true for me and don’t have to be necessarily true for you.
It should be noted that at one time these beliefs were completely opposites meanings for me.
1. You have valuable gifts & talents to contribute to the world around you. – I was born with the ability to do something better than anyone else on this planet. I’m unique in my gifts and abilities. To uncover, discover and use them in order to impact the world just requires commitment to do so.
2. Your problems are some of your greatest gifts – From my problems or challenge will come about knowledge, awareness, insight, experience and most importantly perspective. I don’t shy away from problems when they come up in my life like I used to. There is a positive to go along with every negative. There can’t just be bad without good, negative without positive or shadow without light. Your gift is perspective.
3. The qualities that make up you, are already enough to get started on making an impact. The qualities I possess right now are enough to seek out the skills, the partnerships, the mentors and the resources to make anything happen I put my mind to.
4. Everything you do matters. – This goes for what I don’t do either. What I do today right now matters. My greatest gift to the world is my labor, my efforts and my life work. What I invest my labor in everyday does matter.
5. Everything you think about has an impact on how you experience life. – What I choose to think about right now impacts my decisions to act or not to act. To contribute or not to contribute. To serve or not to serve. When I am in sound body and mind and aligned with my highest of values, purposely thinking in a way that serves those around me becomes simple.
6. How you feel about yourself is crucial to how you serve. – How I feel about myself determines the amount of action I choose to take and how boldly I take it. Self confidence is to trust myself that I am enough right now. It determines the amount of preparation I put into my labor. To feel good about me and the qualities that make up me (All of them) determines the amount of impact I make on the world with a positive light.
7. Everything you’ve gone through in the past serves you in the present. – I have the power to choose how I interpret my past. Whether I am victim or victor. I learn from my losses just as much as I do from my wins.
8. What you dislike most in someone else is a quality you dislike about yourself. – If I didn’t see it within myself, how could I acknowledge it? The world is a mirror, reflecting what I see most in myself. If it triggers me, it is there to teach me. I am to find how it serves me integrate it. The more I resist this quality the more it will continue to persist.
9. What you admire most about someone else is what you see in yourself. – Anytime I infatuate or hold someone up on a pedestal, it’s because I’m too humble to admit that what I see in them I already have.
“Everything you and I have gone through in the past can serve us in the now, when we just remain present.”
Again, what you believe with the most amount of feeling behind it, becomes your truth.
How did I turn these beliefs around from the negative opposites?
Next Steps
Write down the top 8 to 10 things you believe about you. Be open an honest with yourself. Even if you feel they are negative beliefs. If you resist them they will only persist.
Example: “Your problems are some of your greatest gifts.” – I used to believe I must have been a bad person to attract all of the problems in my life. “Why me?” I would ask. That isn’t a good question to ask by the way. Why me always invites you into a bullshit story that isn’t usually grounded in truth but in a story you make up to justify your victim response.
So I began to re-frame my question:
- “What are these problems trying to tell me?” -Better question, however we can go further.
- “How are these problems serving me?” -Much better question.
- “How can I use these problems to serve?”- This is the question that opened me up to a new belief. This lead me to realizing the problems I was experiencing presented me with the challenge of solving them, which gave me perspective. That was huge.
So really look at your beliefs and ask yourself how they serve you and in what way.
Will you need to re-frame your question in order to find how they can not only serve you but those around you?
I discover much of this through meditation, journaling and because of these at the most odd times of the day this stuff would just come to me. (Or through me)
Just opening yourself up and surrendering to the process can be extremely liberating. Take for example these two quotes:
“All growth involves saying goodbye to something and saying hello to new possibilities.” -Nathanial Brandon
“When you feel you’re not living to your potential, something about you (such as a belief) will have to die, in order for you to really begin to live.”– Tony Robbins
If you have any questions or comments share them below, I’d really like to hear them on this subject. Also please be sure to share this post on Twitter, Facebook or even just email it. I’d greatly appreciate it 🙂
