BELIEFS

In the last post ‘Heal Thyself’ I mentioned that our Mind has lost Belief in our Body. This post looks at our ‘Belief System’, what it is and how it affects our Life.

BELIEF SYSTEM:

The Encarta Dictionary has 5 different definitions for ‘Belief’:

1. Acceptance of truth of something.
2. Trust.
3. Something that somebody believes in
4. Opinion
5. Religious faith

The closest one that I am referring to is the first point;

“Acceptance of truth of something – acceptance by the mind that something is true or real, often underpinned by an emotional or spiritual sense of certainty.” The emphasis is mine.

The key point here is the MIND. Our Mind has a FREE-WILL and we are free to act as we choose, we are not limited by INSTINCT. When we choose to BELIEVE in something or NOT we are exercising our MIND’S FREE-WILL. We can BELIEF or DISBELIEF both are the results of our FREE-WILL and are BELIEFS (DISBELIEF just describes one’s BELIEF). We can decide not to choose, we call this an ‘OPEN-MIND’.

We seldom question our more fundamental BELIEFS as we see them more as TRUTHS than beliefs. We would not BELIEVE in something if we did not think it was TRUE. There are no good or bad BELIEFS; there are only EMPOWERING BELIEFS and LIMITING BELIEFS. We need to view our BELIEFS in how they EMPOWER us or how they LIMIT us. The issue of a BELIEF being a TRUTH is the illusion that keeps us to that BELIEF.

There are two discussions I had with different perception of BELIEFS that I believe will demonstrate the deep level of BELIEF that I am referring to.

1. I was having a discussion with a group that was pressing that their sense of ‘Knowing’ was more fundamental than their ‘Belief’. The ‘Knowing’ that they were referring to was their ‘Intuition’ was much more important and helpful than their ‘Belief’. My point was the need to BELIEVE in their ‘Intuition or Knowing’ in order for their ‘Knowing’ to be of any value. If one DISBELIEVED in their ‘Intuition’ then one would not pay any attention to their ‘Knowing’ and it would have no value.
2. I was in a workshop with about 20 others, I forget how it came up, and one person commented to me that “...facts always trump belief”. The point is once again missed; one needs to BELIEVE in one’s facts in order for the facts to have any relevance.

We often see our BELIEF as something wishy-washy, silly, superstitious, and wishful or some other not real state. The level of BELIEF that I am referring to is what everything else is built on.

HOW OUR BELIEFS AFFECT US:

It is through our BELIEFS that we experience our lives and our environment. It is our BELIEF SYSTEM that forms our Judgments, our Desires and even our sense of Right & Wrong. Our BELIEF about our self will be the foundation of our success or failure and how we see our self is what we will experience.

Empowering & Limiting Beliefs;

When we want to change a part of our LIVES, we need to look towards our BELIEFS. When we are reviewing our BELIEFS we need to ask – “Does the BELIEF empower me or limit me?”. When we want to make changes in our LIVES, we need to have EMPOWERING BELIEFS. When we have LIMITING BELIEFS we need to find a way to make it into an EMPOWERING BELIEF. LIMITING BELIEFS create a challenge for us to overcome so that we can move past them.

CAUTION:

Examining this deep level of our BEING must be taken with caution; it can be unsettling for anyone not ready to explore this level of their BEING. When we start to question our deep BELIEFS in our self and about our Life can trigger what is referred to as “Dark Night of the Soul”.

It can be shocking when we start to question BELIEFS that we have built our LIVES ON, be cautious and approach these BELIEFS we have slowly, patience is a virtue. When we are review our BELIEFS it is necessary to view the BELIEF in a positive manner and not in a right or wrong judgment. We can be thankful to Limiting Beliefs as they have got us to the present point.