Now there is a great question. Many of us do not actually ask the question "what are beliefs?" let alone what are our beliefs!
Brought out into the open (or to consciousness) we might find out core beliefs to be rather shocking.
All of the various beliefs you hold about the little things and the big things serve as the very building blocks of your life. When you believe in something you have a level of commitment to it. Agreeing or disagreeing with an idea can indicate you have a belief about it. Whereas, simply having an idea about something does not automatically indicate commitment, nor a belief.
- Beliefs are the ideas you have a commitment to, and support.
- They are the views and opinions that you have accumulated, that represent you.
- Your beliefs are positions that you endorse.
- Beliefs express your attitude about things, and your way of thinking and looking at things.
- Beliefs dictate your approach and outlook to life.
- What you believe is what you stand for.
Becoming familiar with what you believe gives insight for your personal development. Look at how you interact with others, and how you react to daily events. This helps to identify parts of your belief system that is operating at the foundation level of your life.
Let me share a little story with you. I was a loving housewife in the midst of busy city life. One day I was a bit exasperated and said to a friend, "Sometimes it seems like my whole life is taken up just running around with endless little errands. You know those small tasks that never seem to go away... doing the grocery shopping, picking up the dry cleaning, dropping video rentals back, and getting the car washed!" He kind of chuckled, and then, looking at me with deep wisdom and understanding flowing from his eyes, he said "Those errands are part of life. They don't go away."
You might say that's obvious. But what hadn't been obvious to me before our discussion were the different meanings we had each given to those tasks. To me, they were an intrusion. I saw my life, and then I saw these little errands taking me away from the time of my life. To him, they were integrated as part of life. He saw them as much a valid slice of life experience as anything else.
He was the sage saying:
"Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.
After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water."
After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water."
You can be sure that each of us would have approached those errands differently, based on what we believed they meant in our lives. We would have had very different thoughts and emotions as we carried them out. It is likely that we also would have treated the people we encountered en route, quite differently.