Beliefs: Do Your Open the Doors to the Possibilities or Keep You Stuck in a Limited World?

What are beliefs anyway? I looked up the definition “something one accepts as true or real; a firmly held opinion or conviction”. I don’t see anywhere in the definition that says a belief has to be true. It is merely a firmly held opinion. They serve us by defining the world in a way our consciousness can comprehend.

They should be fluid, ever changing as we evolve and grow. Our tendency, though, is to keep living life the same as we always have, never changing (at least much) and just assuming what we have is what we should expect. Our beliefs are often outmoded, though, and don’t fit who we are becoming and can, in fact, keep us from becoming what we are ready to become — they hold us back. Our beliefs may come from our family, our culture, our religion, our society, from something someone said to us, or from an experience we had years back that has shaped how we think. The biggest challenge is these beliefs shape the way we see the world and, in effect, what we create in our world and if that belief is not what we want anymore, it continues to create a world that is less than fully satisfying.

Inspiration vs. Motivation

Do you need to motivate yourself to exercise? Eat well? Do your taxes? Clean your house? Find a new job? Get out and date? What if, instead you were inspired to do so? How does that feel?

I like Wayne Dyer’s distinction between inspiration and motivation. He says that motivation comes from a negative impetus; you want to do something so something negative won’t happen. (“I want to exercise so I don’t get fat.”) Inspiration comes from a positive impetus; you want to do something so something positive will happen. (“I want to exercise so I feel energy and vibrancy.”) When we are negatively motivated, it takes will-power to overcome the negative energy to get going. When we are positively inspired, we can’t wait to jump out of bed to do what we want to do.

How else can you think of it? Are you wanting something out of fear or love? Think about it in your own life. Not only does coming from love and inspiration feel better, the Universe will work with you to help you create what you want. When you come from fear, you are inviting whatever you fear into your life.

Living Fully in the Present

“Instead of goals, make the commitment to love joyfully in the moment. Stop dreaming about the future and get back to the only thing you have now. Decide to live fully in the present.” (Wayne Dyer)

I love this quote. It is incredibly inspired and brought to my mind immediately one of the biggest (and understandable) obstacles many people have around manifesting: “How can you be wanting changes in your life, whatever they are, and still be present with your now? Isn’t the very position of wanting a change mean you aren’t being present?” No! In fact, in one of the Universe’ greatest ironies, you can’t manifest until you are perfectly present and seeing your present as perfect.

We aren’t capable of not wanting or desiring something. Desiring goes along with our human consciousness. (If you want to read more on that thought, look here: Is Non-Greed Possible?) Where we run into suffering is wanting something (whether it is something we want to be, do or have) and not feeling we can have it. We feel envy, frustration, and self-pity. These thoughts are merely beliefs that are limiting what we receive. So, our goal is to live fully in the now, to love our life and to know we are open to more.