Magic of Believing

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.