A
core belief is the lens through which we view our world. A core belief is quite often hidden from our
awareness deep within our subconscious.
For instance I may have the belief that I am not good enough and
therefore the work I do is not good enough.
The beliefs we have about our
place in the world are clouded with strong emotions. In order to change a belief from a negative
one into a positive one, we have to visit the emotion associated with
the belief. So, you are thinking
we just need to come up with a succinct affirmation and repeat it daily and the
magic happens. Maybe so. If you are a person with a strong sense of
self and high self-esteem, it just may work. But, you say, I am not that person. I believe that I am not good enough. Repeating a positive self-statement most often
will backfire for the very people who need them most. Canadian
researcher, Dr. Joanne Wood at the University of Waterloo recently
published this same conclusion in her research.
You may repeat the same positive affirmation without fail daily and if you
do not firmly believe you are truly worthy of this positive outcome, you will
continue to reinforce the undesirable core belief.
Change is instantaneous. It takes no longer than a fleeting thought,
in which you truly believe to be true, to change how you view yourself and your
circumstances. Every thought we think,
every word we speak is creating our circumstance. If we desire change we have to first become mindful
of how we are contributing to, and giving power to, our core beliefs. We must carefully monitor every thought we
think and every word we speak aloud. If
these thoughts and words do not support the change we desire, change it. Be mindful of the emotion associated with
the thought. Ask yourself; ‘How does it
feel when I speak like this, or think like this.’ Feel the emotion. Do not bury it again. Once felt, let it go. It no longer serves you. Core belief thoughts
are stubborn and letting it go may take much effort. If it
feels anything less than good, then change the thought. If it feels good, then the thought or spoken
word is feeding your authentic self.
Take
ownership and responsibility for your thoughts. Understand that you control your thoughts
and do not allow them to control you because they are not a part of your true
nature. Your true nature, personality
and character is what you choose to make it.
So let’s return to the thought ‘I am not good enough so therefore the work I
do is not good enough’. One
circumstance that may have fed this thought is that you are not selling your
art. From this we attach the ‘I’ to the
equation and reflect that I am not good enough.
More fodder may come in the form
of a statement by someone such as; ‘I see that you paint but what do you do for
a REAL job’. From this, we come away
feeling that what we do does not matter to the ‘tribe’. And since we inherently want to belong to the
tribe, we come away feeling betrayed by what we do. If this happens –and I am sure it has
happened to you- we need to remember the words of Brene Brown: “Your critics
are not the ones who count”. Remember
your tribe is made up of many characters.
Surround yourself with those who feed your soul and support your efforts
and remember:
- · Thoughts are things
- · You are not your thoughts
- · You are not your emotions
- · Thoughts and emotions come and go of their own accord
- · You are a soul inhabiting a body and experiencing thoughts and emotions
- · Cultivate a non- judgmental awareness by being mindful
- · You are the space in which thoughts and emotions arise
- · Cultivate the space between the thoughts, that is, the ‘primary consciousness’ that underlies all thinking. (It is that "space between the notes," said Claude Debussy "that makes the music." If there were no spaces between the notes on a sheet of music, the sounds you would hear would not only be unintelligible but meaningless, even annoying.
- · Change is instantaneous
- · Slow down and everything you are chasing will catch up to you
Inspiration is just a thought away.
Another great post. I love so many of these "quantum" ideas but find it can be hard to actually bring them into my everyday life in a consistent way that works. The other day I heard an interview where the questioner managed to get what seemed like helpful advice from Bruce Lipton. Here's the paraphrase as I remember it. Most of our habitual thoughts arise out of the unconscious (often set there in our early years and often not our own) If we pay attention when these thoughts arise and replace them with a conscious thought we "want" then eventually we will build a new mind habit for ourselves. I liked that simple explanation because I felt like, "yeah, I could do that."
ReplyDeleteI love this line of yours: Slow down and everything you are chasing will catch up to you
Bruce Lipton explains all this so well in The Biology of Belief. Watching that put science to what I have known since a young age. Thank you for your comment Carole.
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