Beliefs

I’ve just finished reading a book called Out of the Maze by Dr Spencer Johnson.  He’s the man who wrote Who Moved My Cheese?  And it was an enjoyable short read – both of them were.

It’s about the power of belief — what we believe and how we believe.  A parable really, but so easily related to our everyday lives.  It made me think more about what I believe, and what I expect to happen because of those beliefs.  Some of my beliefs are quite predictable, others rather random and then some could be seen as being a bit way out there.  It doesn’t matter really, not what they are nor how others perceive them.

A bit like following the current political scene — here we are heading into yet another election with predominantly the same people telling us what they’d like us to believe.  Yet we don’t always believe what they want us to —some of us even do our own research, rather than blindly following what we’re told we should.  In fact it can be very hard to believe what we are told is the truth when we look at past performances as a guide.

So why is it that we stick to the same old beliefs, year in, year out when they are not really serving us in this world that is forever changing?

An example — I grew up thinking that I had a happy family and that all was well within that arena.  Until one day as an adult with a young family myself, I discovered that it was all false.  The father I respected and loved was in fact a pedophile.  Oh yes it all made sense sadly when I stopped and had a good hard look under the surface.  Little things made me take a good look at the beliefs I had around family and see that they didn’t serve me anymore.  For a while I was wary of older men who played and joked with children and handed lollies out with the hymn books, but over time I’ve come to realise that I can’t lump all older men into that category. So along with a new reality — my beliefs changed.

I could cite dozens of stories that have had me switch my beliefs around over the years, but I’m sure you see the point.

Where in your life are you holding onto beliefs that don’t help you anymore ?

It’s about thend how we believe.     

Power

Power is something that we all use on a fairly constant basis.  It comes in many forms and we need and use it in various ways throughout our daily lives.

Last night, we had just got into bed and I’d started reading an article when the lights went out.  Oh well it must be time to actually sleep!

I woke during the night and still no power, and I started thinking about how reliant we are on our electricity.  Thinking about all the ways I personally use the electricity I pay for.  Charging my phone and iPad; running the refrigerator; my computer; the Thermie to make my smoothies and of course the internet.   I can live without the television for quite some time, but most of the other items are very important in my life.  I have solar power but that doesn’t operate without electricity at the moment.

I can’t imagine living off the grid, like many people do.  I remember as a child living on the farm we only had the diesel generator to provide our power and often heard “Turn off that light!” being shouted.  We could only run two lights at a time or they would all go very dim.    There was much excitement when the electricity came through and we were connected at last — we even had a community social event to celebrate.

But aside from these sources, we all have our own personal power without which our lives would also be very ordinary.  We have the power to make choices; the power to say no amongst many other things.  If we violate societal laws, then our power of choice can be removed.

Some people see themselves as being powerless, and taking control of your personal power can be a daunting task.  Or maybe it is seen as not being an option.  Teenagers rebel against the perceived power of their parents, teachers and so on until they learn to make wiser choices within their own personal realm.

So how do you use your power?   What areas of your life do you feel powerful or powerless in?  There is a very fine line between assertiveness  and bullying, but we all have it within us to make those choices — wrong or right.