Beliefs.
What are beliefs? How are they formed? How can they create or destroy our lives?
Beliefs are a fundamental part of our internal [psychological] systems that greatly shape and affect our day to day decisions and actions.
Not all beliefs are important or critical.
Core or global beliefs are crucially important beliefs that deeply affect all departments of our lives; for example your beliefs regarding life, money, yourself, death and God.
So what are beliefs?
They are a feeling of certainty towards any given issue or matter; they start by forming as an opinion, then gradually turn into a conviction. Beliefs, once adopted are seldom questioned, but on the contrary, we tend to validate them through our actions and responses.
[Through "Cognitive Therapy" we can work on restructuring our core beliefs into healthier ones that serve us better in our growth and development.]
Where do beliefs come from?
The first source is 'deep incidents':
challenges, tragedies, major events and critical situations will certainly act as a main source of beliefs.
Someone who experiences a severe illness, for instance, will have a possible change in their beliefs about life [death and illness] and maybe about their own self.
The second source is 'people you trust':
they can be so influential that they'll make you believe or not believe in so many things in life.
Yet, we mostly trust people based on emotions rather than logic or intellect.
The third source is our understanding and interpretation of God's principles [or Life];
and there can be a big difference between interpretations and reality.
The fourth source would [be your own] rational thinking [and analysis] based on information and data collected throughout your life.
The fifth source is your personal imagination and self-discovery journey.
Once you believe something, you brain operates on auto-pilot, validating your belief, regardless of what it is.
[That is unless you consciously take charge, become aware of what your core beliefs are and how they affect you, and then choose what you beliefs are!]
written by Ahmed El-Aawar
excerpted from Teenstuff Magazine, January 2010 issue.
