Forming Our Beliefs-Daily Meditation 5.10.23
Today’s quotation:
We are incredibly heedless in forming our beliefs but find ourselves with an illicit passion for them when anyone proposes to rob us of their companionship. It is not the ideas themselves that are dear to us, but our self-esteem that is threatened.-James Harvey
Today’s Meditation:
These days, one of my first questions to myself, whenever I start to feel judgmental, is whether or not what I’m feeling is the result of knowledge or a belief. I’ve been on this planet for quite a long time, and I’ve formed many beliefs. One of the seemingly common traits of human beings, though, is that we tend to defend our beliefs come hell or high water because we think that they help to define who we are. The truth is, though, those beliefs are simply beliefs, and many of them are rather dangerous because they help to form our lives in negative ways.
If I believe in Santa Claus, that’s a relatively harmless belief. If I believe, though, that other people should share my belief because I know I’m right, then I become a threat to other people’s peace, and I set myself up for lots of frustration. If I believe that I’m not lovable (a typical trait of an Adult Child of an Alcoholic) or that I’m doomed to live my life in poverty, then those beliefs help to shape my behaviors and, thus, my life. And I can’t depend upon other people to help to change my beliefs because the ways I act are going to help keep other people away.
So I regularly ask myself if what I feel is a belief or knowledge. Do I assign homework because research shows it helps my students or because I believe it’s for the best? Do I try to convince someone else of something because I know for sure that it’s true or because I believe that it’s true? And I have to be careful because when I try to figure out if what I think is a belief or knowledge, it’s effortless for me to seek only evidence that supports my belief and ignore or reject any evidence that may indicate my belief is unfounded.
We need to be able to look at our beliefs objectively to decide whether or not they’re hurting us or helping us, to decide to get rid of them, change them, or keep them. If I believe that most human beings are liars, I will see a lot of lying in my life, and it would be much better for me to change that belief. If I believe that most human beings are good at heart, then I will see a lot of goodness, and that’s a belief that I think I’ll hold on to.
Questions to consider:
How do we form our beliefs? Do we always do so consciously?
How many of our beliefs are positive and helpful to us?
What does it take to change or reject a specific belief?
For further thought:
Our beliefs are so powerful that they color our entire world. We see what we believe, but we can–, and most of us do–fail to take responsibility for what we see, especially what we see within.-Hugh Prather
