I turned on the radio the other day and heard an old hit from the 60’s “I believe” by the Bachelors and whilst it is rather schmaltzy it got me thinking. We are all governed by a set of deeply ingrained beliefs about things like how safe the world is, how it operates, peoples essential nature etc and these beliefs drive much of our behaviour. If you think that the world is fundamentally unsafe then you are constantly scanning for danger and often in a state of pre-flight/fight in case you need to escape or attack. If you believe it is a dog-eat-dog world, then you are probably expecting everyone you meet to be conning you and so find trust difficult.

I’ll be honest with you; I think this is not only a crucial area, but one I find hard to get to grips with. I know there are people out there who think that we can choose our beliefs, and perhaps some people can, but I find that hard to credit. There are others who feel they have tools to alter our beliefs and I have had some fascinating conversations about this subject with them. I suspect that our beliefs come from our upbringing and our experiences; the former are hard to shed without sufficient of the latter that contradict these early messages.

We may not find this an easy area to change, but I think that it is crucial that we take stock of our beliefs and understand the behaviours that they drive, because, make no mistake, they are very powerful. Knowing where they drive us gives us some element of choice about our responses.

I would love to hear from you about your beliefs on this subject and your experiences.

“Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.” Andre Gide
“Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.” Paraphrased from Buddah