Do you believe your beliefs?
What do you believe is true for you? What belief system have you subscribed to about your health, wealth, family, physical appearance and/or mental capabilities?
Do you know when you first established these beliefs and why?
Let’s take a walk down the road that leads us to core beliefs about ourselves.
Perhaps it’s time to unravel beliefs that keep us stuck in unhealthy patterns.
Many of us adopted our belief system from our parents. Others of us fostered beliefs based on interaction with our peers in high school or perhaps those at our job.
This essay will attempt to unpack our beliefs and the evidence to prove their significance or disprove their validity.
With the help of the sunshine in my life (AKA, my daughter), I have been on a journey to seek joy in every single moment of every single day.
In addition, I started to put my beliefs about myself under a microscope.
Recognizing that nothing would change if nothing changed. Since the only thing we can control is ourselves, I realized that it was I who must change.
Certainly you’ve noticed how difficult it is to change circumstances outside of you? So many of us were taught that the only way to improve our lives (job, husband/wife, friendships, health, wealth, etc.) was with the effort of hard work.
I am not suggesting that you shouldn’t put forth any effort to acquire things that will improve your quality of life or that you shouldn’t offer your best self and skills to the job you chose. However, I am suggesting that it is a combination of belief before action and then marrying the two.
The mindset of working harder is a mirage to keep you as a hamster on a wheel in the matrix. If we wish to give birth to a fulfilling and abundant life, we must leave the
matrix (n.)
late 14c., matris, matrice, "uterus, womb," from Old French matrice "womb, uterus" and directly from Latin mātrix (genitive mātricis) "pregnant animal," in Late Latin "womb," also "source, origin," from māter (genitive mātris) "mother" (see mother (n.1)).
The many figurative and technical senses are from the notion of "that which encloses or gives origin to" something. The general sense of "place or medium where something is developed" is recorded by 1550s; meaning "mould in which something is cast or shaped" is by 1620s; sense of "embedding or enclosing mass" is by 1640s.
Why do I believe my effort didn’t provide sustainable results? I dedicated 35 plus years to the belief system of working hard and my labor was in vain.
In fact, the only thing the 35 plus years did provide was an exhausted mind and body.
Albert Einstein was quoted stating “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.”
So I boldly stepped outside of my comfort zone to fearlessly brave the unknown.
I can proudly tell you with 100% certainty that I repeatedly see evidence outwardly of the things I’ve changed from within. As within, so without.
Let me give examples of a few false beliefs that were brought to my awareness.
One night on my way home from work after a tranquil walk by the ocean, I asked Siri to play music on Spotify. I could hear Siri activating in response to “Hey Siri”, yet after multiple attempts, I still got no music.
My belief was that I couldn’t have what I desired since Siri wasn’t serving it up.
I became irritated since I enjoy listening to tunes on my drive home.
Due to my commitment to not access my phone while driving, I drove home in silence. Upon arriving home, it hit me like a lightning bolt.
I oddly understood the reason that Siri could not fulfill my request. Either I was being asked to savor the silence or I was not in a receptive channel.
Imagine yourself trying to tune to channel 96.1 WEJZ on your radio and the dial accidentally lands on 95.9 instead. If you are in Jacksonville, you would hear static instead of music since you are tuned to the wrong frequency.
Another belief brought to my awareness for fine tuning was grounded in lack.
It had repeatedly shown up in my life and was a false belief from childhood. Growing up in a low-income family of 5, there was often not enough money and expressions of worry surrounding lack. It became second nature from child to adult to notice what was lacking rather than what I have in present to be grateful for.
I finally decided I’d had enough of this belief that wasn’t serving me when I caught myself getting irritated with squirrels attempting to enjoy the bird seed I had placed outside in various bird feeders. I can laugh about it now and see how silly and ridiculous it was to believe that there wouldn’t be enough for the birds because the squirrels were going to eat all the bird seed.
That mindset was ruling my life and keeping me stuck in a scarcity mindset. That belief would never result in a life of abundance as the two cannot coexist. That belief also does not encourage freedom to give since we inevitably believe there won’t be enough left for us if we give of what we have.
I recognized that I had subscribed and adopted to these beliefs because I had no evidence as a child to the contrary.
Just as aspiring to be fit by working on your physical appearance doesn’t shed unnecessary weight within a week. The same applies to our mental diet when we don’t see the fruit of what we desire right away. What are we feeding our minds on a daily basis? Are we engaging in television programming that instills fear, doubt and lack? Are we listening to lyrics in music that are contrary to what we believe or aspire to believe?
We may be under the impression that these things have little control, yet there is scientific evidence to the contrary. Our subconscious mind picks up and stores pieces of everything we see, feel and do. It creates thought processes out of these very things without giving our conscious mind a chance to unsubscribe.
Many of us have unknowingly blocked the very things we wish for due to these subconscious beliefs. We believe that we have to effort or chase our way into getting the things we desire. When we take time to examine the beliefs we’ve constructed over the years, we can see the impact they have had on our thought processes, overall well-being and interactions with others. 12
We first have to open our minds and hearts to determine if the beliefs we have are serving us or if we serve them. Do our beliefs produce a world primarily of sadness, loneliness, judgment, unworthiness, lack, etc.?3
I believe we don’t have to fight for what’s ours. When we ask and believe (truly believe), it is already ours and will present itself to us in divine timing.
Jesus was quoted in Mark 11:24 saying “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
My intention is to help you realize that working harder towards your desires is not what it appears to be. If we wish to elevate our life, we must seek enlightenment that offers a slower pace of thinking and being.
You can choose to disagree and deny that this is how our world creates itself. You can choose to believe that the only way to enjoy the finer side of life is with working your fingers to the bone. Or you can choose to believe that God is orchestrating every detail of your life and this is just how it is until you get to heaven.
God desires you to have every good thing and has not forgotten you. It is you who has forgotten you and needs to find your way home like the prodigal son. It is you who needs to go within and determine if your beliefs are elevating your life or keeping you stuck in patterns that don’t uplift you.
Imagine you are looking into a mirror and you don’t like what you see. Is this image you? It is not you, it is only an image of you casted upon the mirror.
Since it is not you, you can change what you don’t like about that image. Perhaps you change the clothing you have on or perhaps you add a touch of lipstick.
First we must understand why we don’t like that image.
Do we look in the mirror and find only flaws? If we don’t like what we see in our mirror, it may not be the physical reflection we are at odds with.
Take time to review your reflection and decide if it is true to who you wish to be and project to others. Remember not to place greater emphasis on the outward appearance rather than the inner soul.
Perhaps we should focus on things we like about ourselves and fall in love with our unique way of being and the gifts we offer.
Just as the old saying goes “accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative”.
If you’re focus is primarily on what is lacking in your life or how unattractive you believe yourself to be, there are core beliefs that need uprooting.
Doesn’t it make sense to have beliefs that are rooted in love, happiness, joy, peace and prosperity? We alone hold the key to unlock the door of change in our experience if we don’t like the life we’ve created.
We were made in the image of God which means we ARE perfect. We’re not GOING to be perfect someday in the by and by, we already are. We were spoon fed a lot of crap that created limiting beliefs as little children that we have not yet outgrown. Sayings such as “nothing in life is perfect” and “nothing comes easy without hard work” have kept us as slaves with no hope of appeal. It’s no wonder our view of life is often grim and we feel there is a glass ceiling we can’t break through.
From my perspective, I chose to see that a day like today where the sun shone bright and the sky was baby blue with cool temp of 48 degrees was perfect.
The peace of mind I acquire by simply being in the tasteful elegance and warmth of my home is perfect and requires no hard work to achieve.
This method is applicable to every facet of our lives. If you don’t enjoy your job, maybe your perspective could use adjusting. Pause for a tune up and return to your job as if it is the best place you’ve ever imagined you could be working.
It may not be the place you intend to have as a career, however, you can find joy and be grateful for what you have.
My intent is that this essay will give you hope, strength, clarity and gumption.
I am speaking from a pure heart and a desire to inspire based on my awareness and present path of peace and joy.
Ultimately it is your choice and I cannot make it for you, no one else can. It’s always been our choice even though we were led to believe we did not have the power.
You can choose to disregard everything you just read and continue leading the life you are experiencing. You can wait for God to turn things around in your world if you believe he has not given you the same power. Or, you can choose just as I have, to search for truth that lies just beneath the surface of fear. Fear is simply false evidence appearing real. Once you break the illusion away, you are able to see clearly.
While I cannot say it’s easy or that the old mindset will be gone overnight, I am happily living my life with more awareness of things to be grateful for rather than a focus on what is missing.
I have come to such a peaceful place on my journey that has created a desire to never return to the old skin. Just as Jesus spoke in Matthew 9:17 “Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” I believe this is key to transforming and renewing our minds if we truly wish to see our lives ascend to higher thinking and being. 4
Ephesians 4:23-24 speaks to this as well “to be renewed in the spirit of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God.… "
The only way we rise above and make a difference in the world is to go within and then we will see a beautiful new world full of possibilities unfold before our eyes.
After all, it is not what we see, it is how we see it.
You deserve an incredible life and you don’t have to wait until your physical body dies to experience heaven on earth. Your life does not begin when you get the perfect partner, the career of your dreams or the house you long for. Your life is happening right now and is waiting for you to buckle up and enjoy the journey!
Beautifully and thoughtfully written 🤍 thank you for sharing
Thank you 🙏🏼