Magic of Believing

“If we worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true really is true, then there would be little hope for advance” - Orville Wright

We use to believe, at one point in time, that our world was flat.  I guess we can say we were pretty much wrong on that one. 

And then we use to believe (or at least the Church sure did) that the Earth was the center of the Universe, and everything revolved around it.  But thanks to people like Copernicus and Galileo - we now know that isn't true either.  Galileo actually did some time over this one.  "Heresy",  the Church yelled.  "But yet it moves", replied Galileo.  You know the Catholic Church finally forgave old Galileo and admitted their mistake - in 1992? 

In the early 1900's, a couple of brothers from Indiana had a wild thought. They said "We're going to fly".  The town folks sure had a good laugh over that one.  Good thing Orville and Wilbur were "Wright" (ouch - pardon the pun ) or it would still take us forever to travel abroad.   

Anyone old enough to remember a certain President who in the 1960's said we would one day go to the moon?  Did the people laugh?  They sure did.  Did we go to the moon?  Got the moon rocks and the Tshirt to prove it. 

We usually are....wrong you know.  Just look back at history.  

We believe we're smart - we believe we're right, but usually we're not.  Our beliefs limit us.  Problem is - they're usually not our beliefs, they're someone elses and we just go along with them.  Don't want to stand out and be wierd or anything.  Gotta go with the flow, fit in, be a part of the crowd.

Remember Noah?  Yeah, he was wierd.  Building a ARK of all things, right out in the middle of the desert.  Not a cloud in the sky.  What a moron. What's he smoking?  Quick, take a picture, we HAVE to get this guy on YouTube.  {drip} {drip}

Damn - we were wrong again.

The lesson here is simple.  Don't simply believe something is true, just because everyone tells you it is.  And by everyone I mean your parents, your teachers, even your Church.  Learn to think for yourself.  Question everything.  And the amazing thing is, once you prove them wrong, then everyone will see how easy it is. 

Remember Roger Bannister?  They said, "No one can run a mile in under 4 minutes"  "It's physically impossible".   Once he did it, just six weeks laer John Landy followed suit with 3 minutes 57.9 seconds breaking Bannisters record.  Roger just had to show it was possible.

So now the question now is, what beliefs do YOU have? 

"I'll never lose weight", "I'll never get married", "I'll never get out of debt", "I don't believe in Rincarnation", "I don't believe in ghosts","The only way to get to Heaven is through the Christian Church"........

Know what?  I bet you're wrong.

Author Gregg Braden, from the documentary “You Can Heal Your Life” says,

We tend to live our lives based on what we believe - about ourselves, our world, our capabilities and our limits.  Where do those beliefs come from?  More often than not they come from what other people have told us, history, science, religion, culture, family……WHAT IF THEY’RE WRONG?

Beliefs are important.    As I have said over and over - by example of the Placebo Effect - if I am depressed and go to my doctor for some Antidepressants - I will feel better - even if I am taking nothing more than a sugar pill.  It is my BELIEF - both in the capability of modern medicine and in my Doctor - that cures me - not the sugar pill.  Conversely, if our Doctor tells us we have Cancer and we only have 3 months to live - chances are we will die within those 3 months.  We BELIEVE our doctors - even if afterwards it is found we never had cancer to begin with.  We live our lives based on our beliefs.

Historically, most things we believed to be true - were wrong.

At one point in time, it was believed that the Earth was motionless and that the Sun and planets revolved around it.  Galileo, with the use of his newly created telescope, discovered this was not the case.  The Catholic Church, which was very powerful and influential in Galileo’s day, strongly supported the theory of a Earth-centered, universe.  After Galileo began publishing papers about his astronomy discoveries and his belief in a Sun-centered, Universe, he was called to Rome to answer charges brought against him by the Inquisition.  Early in 1616, Galileo was accused of being a heretic, a person who opposed Church teachings. Heresy was a crime for which people were sometimes sentenced to death. Galileo was cleared of charges of heresy, but was told that he should no longer publicly state his belief that Earth moved around the Sun. Galileo continued his study of astronomy and became more and more convinced that all planets revolved around the Sun. In 1632, he published a book that stated, among other things, that the heliocentric theory of Copernicus was correct. Galileo was once again called before the Inquisition and this time was found guilty of heresy. Galileo was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1633. Because of his age and poor health, he was allowed to serve his imprisonment under house arrest. Galileo died on January 8, 1642.

Of course now we realize that Galileo was indeed right.  But back in the 17th Century, you either believed what the Church told you, whether they were right or wrong, or you were put to death.

Here’s another example of an incorrect belief.

The Miracle Mile

For many years it was widely believed to be impossible for a human to run a mile in under four minutes. In fact, it was believed that the four minute mile was a physical barrier that no man could break without causing significant damage to his health. The achievement of a four minute mile seemed beyond human possibility.  Yet on May 6, 1954 Roger Bannister proved them wrong.   During an athletic meeting between the British AAA and Oxford University, Roger crossed the finish line with a time of 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds.  He broke through the “four minute mile” psychological barrier.  This is significant, because once Roger proved it COULD be done, that it was no longer an impossibility, within three years, 16 other runners also cracked the four minute mile.

So what happened to the physical barrier that prevented humans from running the four minute mile? Was there a sudden leap in human evolution? No. It was the change in thinking that made the difference, Bannister had shown that breaking four minute mile was possible. Often the barriers we perceived are only barriers in our own minds. Previous runners had been held back by their beliefs and mindsets. When the barrier was broken other runners saw that is was possible and then 16 runners went on to do the same.

Which Beliefs Do You Have?

• Money is so hard to come by…….
• There just aren’t any jobs out there…..
• I just can’t lose weight no matter what I do
• I’ll never find my soul mate……..
• No one will date me - I’m not that attractive……
• I’ll never be rich……
• That’s just a dream - dreams don’t really come true…..
• That’s impossible…..
• I’m such a screw up - I mess everything up….
• I’m not that good….

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

Louise Hay sums it up perfectly in her movie,  “You Can Heal Your Life”, when she says:

I think Enlightenment is letting go of all the things we believe that are not benefiting us in life, or are barriers to life - or to the good things in life, and to release them one by one, and to think - I don’t have to believe that anymore.  Or do I want to believe that anymore?  And then making a conscious choice.

 

What you think, and what you believe, is what will come true for you.  Your thoughts create yor life.  It’s that simple.  And when we can get that, we can make enormous changes.

Once upon a time, there were two little rose bushes named Judy and Jim.  These rose bushes were living very comfortably in a nursery, when one day, two people came in and took Judy, claiming they were expert gardeners and knew a great deal about rose bushes - and they did.  They planted Judy in a rich soil with the best combination of sunlight, water, and nourishment.  They kept the weeds and bugs away and handled Judy with kindness.   Judy flourished and grew big and beautiful roses, and if roses could feel - Judy was happy.

Two other people went to the nursery and took Jim, stating they were expert gardeners and knew everything about roses.  But they were really pizza kings from Chicago.  They planted Jim in sandy, salty soil, with too much heat in the day and too much cold in the night.  They watered Jim too much, and then too little, and they did nothing about the weeds and bugs.  In spite of these things, Jim survived but was wilted, stunted, and sorry looking.  Jim looked across the field at Judy and saw her beauty and decided (if a rose bush can decide) that the problem was he was just basically defective and no damn good.

Now, dear reader, if you could talk to a rose bush, I’m confident you would say, “Jim, it’s not you!  The experts were not experts, and it’s your environment that’s the problem.”   But to what purpose?  A little rose bush can’t walk, drive a car, or work.

However, time goes by, and Jim, by hook and by crook, learns to walk, talk, drive a car, and work.  He pulls himself out of the crummy environment and moves to where Judy is:  the rich, fertile, environment. And guess what?  Wrong!  Jim continues to wilt, and grow little, ugly roses.  Jim is so convinced that he’s defective that he decided, “What’s the use?  It wouldn’t do any good to even try.”

Well, what can you expect from a rose bush?

That story came from the book, Monsters and Magical Sticks, by Steven Heller, Ph.D and Terry Lee Steele, copyright 1987.

Lucky Judy.  She had great owners who spared no expense to give her the best soil, water, and nourishment money could buy.  She obviously got lots of care and attention.  Heck she was even hand weeded and debugged.  Wow!  The good life.  Spoiled.  Pampered even.  And she turned out to be so beautiful.

And then there’s poor Jim.  Well meaning owners, but obviously not experts.  Not the greatest soil in the world, but he made do.  Sure, there were plenty of bugs and weeds and even the occasional drought, but he survived didn’t he?  Maybe he’s not the best looking rose in the bunch, but he made it.

The story wants us to feel sorry for Jim, but I actually feel sorry for both of them.

]What happens to Judy when those owners move on?  Is she as tough as Jim?  I doubt it.  He may have had a hard life, but it’s made him stronger.  When I think of Judy I think of Paris Hilton.  Yeah, she’s gorgeous, but is that all she does is look pretty?  Jim’s got it made.  I mean look at him, he learned how to walk, and drive a car, and go to work to get himself out of his bad environment.  Pretty smart for a rose bush.  Jim’s tougher than we think.

Jim only has one problem really.  He compares himself to Judy.  How many of us compare ourselves to the Judy’s in the world.     We know who the Judy’s are.  They play sports, they’re on Tv and in the movies, they sing our favorite songs.  Look how beautiful they are, what a perfect life they have, how rich they are, what I wouldn’t give to be like them….  And like Jim, even if we were to somehow move ourselves to their rich environment,  as long as we think they are better than us,  and keep questioning our own self worth, we too will continue to wilt.

Just because we didn’t turn out to be as perfect as they are, does not mean we are defective, or no damn good.  We just have the same limiting beliefs that Jim did.  The trick is we have to let go of those beliefs.  We are no different from the Judy’s in the world.

In fact - when it comes right down to it - we all came from the same nursery anyway.