The internet defines belief, in one way, as “an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists”. We get through our busy day with a set of beliefs that makes it easier for us to navigate the world. Beliefs created through own eyes.
Our greatest storytellers live within us. Here lies our greatest roadblock. We go through each of our days without ever thinking about our judgment in assessing the many things we encounter. Our beliefs, created out of expectations as to what is true, overpower our senses through the stories we tell ourselves. Forcing our curiousity from consideration for we convince ourselves that what we see, or rather how we interpret what we see, to be this or that based on our preconceived beliefs to be true. Without question – to be true.
The stronger our belief, the less room for doubt. Strong beliefs foster outspoken opinions and an unwillingness to listen openly to other possibilities. They direct our next step or choice without assessing the situation. Our belief keeps us from considering new information. It steals our ability to look for differences that might prove our belief wrong. Leaving us frustrated when the world around us does not react favorably to our belief. Resulting in a “spinning of our wheels” no matter how hard we try.
Strong beliefs keep us from being present in the moment. For they always are self-centered. Closing off the world around us, leaving us empty without any surprises.
A much more productive approach is to first understand with clarity your belief and then go out into the world and test it. If we find that our belief is not really true, then we need to find ways to refine it, change it, or modify it so that it fits more easily into the world around us. Letting new information guide us along the way. Keeping us from “spinning our wheels” through adjustments that help us find new ways to accomplish what we set out to do.
Or much more valuable is being surprised in the moment, to something new, interesting, and different. Gifts that then create energy to carry on and the interest to evolve.