With a Cherishing and Nurturing Devotion

With a Cherishing and Nurturing Devotion

I mentioned this the other day, my favorite Henry Ford quote, “If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” So many of our great minds, the innovators, the ones who stand alone at the forefront, understood that our beliefs and attitudes color our world, and make things possible, or impossible.

If we look for examples of how awful people are, that’s what we find. We see what we scan for. When we play “Where’s Wicked Waldo,” we don’t notice the man in the yellow hat, and his monkey, even though they are unusual and delightful. When the gorilla runs through the basketball game, who sees it?

Our most precious and valued possession is our beliefs. More than family, more than health.

We will abandon our children, sacrifice our physical well being, throw away our wealth to support our beliefs. We will cling to them like a shipwrecked man clings to debris. Even when we know better.

We love our beliefs with a cherishing, nurturing devotion.

For years I thought my beliefs were Truth. I thought they were more than carved in stone, immutable, constant, invariable.I thought I was born with them, like genetic material.  I am so glad I was wrong. At the very least, I would be dead.

I wasn’t even really aware that I had beliefs. There was just stuff that was Truth. I was a horrible person. Life is Cruel. People Will Always Betray You. Poverty is Noble. Rich People are Greedy. People are Out to Get You. The World Is Full of Danger and Evil and Ugliness. Things Will Always Get Worse.

Yikes. That’s just off the top of my head.

Imagine living in a world where that set of lies was Truth. No, don’t. It’s too sad.

Beliefs are not genetic material. They are ideas. You know how ephemeral an idea is. Why, we have them dashing hither and thither in our brains all day long. “I just had an idea. Nope, it’s gone.”

What are some beliefs you have that you would just as soon not be cherishing and nurturing? Do you have some wacky notions about how healthy your body can be at this age? Do you have a nutty thought about what you can accomplish? Do you think the world is a good place or a bad place?

Once you have identified your unsupportive belief, you can start changing it right now. How have I changed from believing in aging to knowing I can stay healthy and vigorous? How have I changed from imposing limits on me to allowing myself to accomplish amazing things? How have I changed from thinking the world is evil to seeing the universal good?

Get the idea? Once you get a “How have I changed” question that feels right, use it a lot. Post it around. Practice writing it out in the 21 day exercise. (If you want to know about this exercise, please message me.) Spend a little time thinking about how your life will change with this new belief.

How have I changed from having unsupportive beliefs to believing things that make me happier, stronger, gentler, and more alive?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 07172013