First Decide ~ Belief Comes With Practice

Belief is a tricky thing. How do we get it? Where do we get it? Can we really trick ourselves into believing something? Or does it take years and years of repetition? How is it that some master the 'art of belief', while others struggle so with the mere concept of it?

I've often wondered about those "One Percenters". The ones who seem to be able to do ANYTHING they put their minds to. The ones who, reportedly, earn 96% of the dollars on the planet. You know the ones...those people who, despite so-called economic decline continue to rake in the bucks, heal themselves of all manner of malady, find true love, etc., etc., etc. How do they do this?

As someone who grew up in a Roman Catholic household, I was led to believe that God was responsible for everything that happens to us. I was told that with "faith", we could go through our lives, unfettered by the obstacles, knowing that "God is watching over us". In other words, I had no say-so in the matter. It was all up to God.

Never did much care for that philosophy. It made me feel helpless and unempowered. It made me feel as if I had no control over my life. It made me feel like everything that would ever happen was simply my "fate".

No thank you.

It took me a while to realize that 'teachings' are not a "one size fits all" thing. We are endowed with brains and emotions and intuitions that are all part of the 'arsenal' of our individual lives. We can use these tools to create our worlds, to build our dreams, to live however we wish. In short: we have CHOICES. Among them, are the choices to decide what works for us, individually, and what we wish to keep. Those things that don't work can be as easily discarded as a pair of old sneakers. Toss 'em and forget about 'em.

We can also choose to believe. In whatever we want. Belief, I have found, is akin to a seed. First it must be planted. And then, it must be nurtured. Every day, all day long. As a seed needs water and sun to grow, so then do our beliefs need to be attended to in much the same manner.

The 'water' is akin to our thoughts. Ever flowing and unimpeded, even by the largest boulders. The 'sun' is our emotion, burning steadily to warm the soil. Thoughts and emotions. Belief comes from practicing the thoughts and emotions of our intentions. Or, put another way, belief comes with repetition. We may not believe a thing at first, but the more we practice it, the more we focus on it, the more we continue to 'see' it, the more it grows. Yes, beliefs are grown in the fertile soils of our thoughts...and our emotions are simply 'food' to nourish that soil.

More often than not, the reason we 'fail' at a thing is because we give up to soon. We may 'practice' a belief for a few weeks, or even months, and then...when we don't see our 'crop', we figure it's a waste of time and give it up. We say "it doesn't work"; "it's all a bunch of nonsense".

But it DOES work. It works every time. No exceptions. It works WHEN WE CONTINUE to believe, when we continue to trust that what we see isn't necessarily all there is. More often than not, what we see is an illusion anyway. It's a projection of thought. So, if we change how we think, so then do the things we see change. Don't believe me?

Not surprised. But it doesn't matter whether you believe me or not. What matters is what YOU believe. And how much emotion you put into those beliefs. You CAN change them. And you get to decide...in every instance...whether or not it's worth the 'long-term' effort. Because, whether you know it or not, it takes no more energy to live "small" than to live "large". It's all the same to Source. And you, my friend, are part of that Source.

So what do you WANT?