The journey of a Belief

Adorned in homes across the world are written words, quotes, and phrases to inspire the buyer. “Enjoy the Journey”, “Live and Let Live”, or a single word like “Believe,” are some examples of such inspirational affirmations. In my office, I have a “Believe” plaque along with many other quotes. I find it helpful to remind myself what I want and why that particular verbiage is important to me.

What you believe, and how beliefs are formed in our minds, can be an important concept worth exploring. Beliefs are formed from a thought that we have over and over and over again. Some thoughts we decided to think, while other thoughts are formed from our environment since childhood.  Our thoughts are different from anyone else and our beliefs and reasoning for that belief will be different as well.  Remember we are not mind readers so someone else’s belief might be in line with yours but stem from entirely different reasons.

It is when we attach ego and comparison to our beliefs that we can experience emotional frustration. Ego leads us down the road of thinking, “if you don’t believe what I believe then something is wrong with you.”

Let’s look at the belief that “You love Bikram yoga and it is amazing for You.” Just this thought makes you feel great and you thoroughly enjoy your yoga routine. That belief serves you well, and because of this, you continue to believe it.  

The thief of comparison and ego can sneak in as you begin to have the “belief” that those who are not yogi’s have something wrong with them. In fact, you begin to believe if they just became a yogi their world would be so much better off, and they would be a happier person.  

When it comes to beliefs realize you can always make suggestions based on your beliefs. In my opinion, I think we should if it has been helpful to us. However, drop any expectations from your suggestions, and I repeat ANY expectations, as that is the thief of ego and comparison.

Creating beliefs that serve you are not always a “think positive and life will be better kind of thing.” Some beliefs may feel more natural than others. Realize you have had your environment around you forming your beliefs your entire life. This is neither a good or bad thing, it just is. Remember beliefs are just thoughts that you have decided to believe or not believe over time.  

Our brains are powerful. As I am a believer in God, I see our brains as the most amazing instrument he gave us. Just like any instrument you have to practice and practice it in order to create with it what you want.  It is solely up to us to manage them, that is not something we can just “delegate out”. When I think of my brain not being managed, I picture a toddler running around with scissors. It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Our brains, when unmanaged, can act that way; it’s up to us to have an adult conversation with that rambunctious kid and tell them that they might get hurt or hurt someone else. It can be challenging to challenge our beliefs, but man will it be worth it.

At least, that is what I believe.