Mannn when I understood that not all my beliefs are even mine a whole new world of possibilities opened up.
TRYing to change beliefs is like pouring petrol onto a fire – making it bigger and hotter. My experience was that I had to really care about something strongly enough to find the willingness to go looking, but then I didn’t have a blueprint to follow like you’ve got here. The recognition that most of the beliefs that were stopping me from creating something new and changing what I cared about weren’t even mine, took ten tons of weight off me and made the “is that a universal truth for everyone everywhere, or can I change it?” process a whole lot easier.
Just pause on that for a moment. What if that thing that’s been stopping you from having / doing / achieving what you most care about is a belief that wasn’t even yours in the first place? What if that belief that’s got you going round and round in circles with that struggling thing happening, was someone else’s lived experience that became your lived experience, but doesn’t have to be yours any more?
Some of my beliefs (remember these have been creating my reality, my very real lived experience) are beliefs adopted from my parents, lots have been picked up from people around me, specially those that I admire or consider experts. Some beliefs have been brought into being by what I’ve read or seen on TV, some are firmly held beliefs by people everywhere – but sooo many of them were not even mine in the first place! My ahhaa moments are going on and on.
All this time so many of my beliefs that were causing that struggling – and they weren’t even mine!
Let’s have a feel of this for yourself.
Drop into your outward breath and notice the way that the lower part of your ribs just squash the air from your lungs.
And do that for a couple more breaths until you feel yourself relaxing.
Smile a little and feel what that smile feels like in your body. Enjoy that feeling for a few breaths until you feel even more comfortable.
Still with that smiley feeling that will stop you from trying too hard, think about that thing you’ve been working on throughout this book and allow yourself to wonder…
“Is there a belief that I adopted from someone else’s lived experience that became became my lived experience, but doesn’t have to be mine any more?”
Still with the smiley feeling, as you just breathe and allow the answer to come up from the inside of you, just wondering… “Is there someone else’s belief that I adopted from their lived experience that became became my lived experience, but that struggle doesn’t have to be mine any more?”
With another smiley feeling breath…
and another…
As before, it doesn’t matter whether the belief lets go in this moment or not. You’ve set the insight in motion. I’ve noticed that sometimes even profound belief changes can slide in ever so gently without all the bells and whistles of an ahhaa moment.
Today’s photo: is rather appropriately Costanza’s Queen Belle, since it was a session with Costanza that opened up that whole “holy snappin’ turtles hardly any of those beliefs are even mine!” Thankyou Costanza!