Beliefs are only thoughts you've repeated ...
Wednesday Wisdom ... passing along what I've learned. You have the power to create the life you want and you are only limited by your beliefs. Did you know a belief is only a thought that's been repeated?
Our minds are crazy powerful. It can completely limit you or open up the possibilities depending upon the quality of your thoughts. It’s important to determine what you’re doing more of. When faced with a challenge or new situation, what is your first response? I think it’s interesting when we make decisions based on something we believe to be true, but it’s nothing more than something we’ve said to ourselves long enough or heard often enough that now we actually think it’s true.
In a session the other day, I was working with a client on one of her limiting beliefs she didn’t realize was guiding her entire life. She was telling me about a recent trip to the ER with what she thought was appendicitis pain. She was describing this pain and her inability to understand why her body was hurting, but the ER doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with her.
“Sounds like your body is trying to get your attention,” I said to her. We kept digging into this idea and what could be going on. We discussed the acuteness of her pain, the tests the doctors ran, the inconclusive results. Then she says, “I am just a bad person.”
Her words struck me in that moments. It was so clear to me.
I’ve heard it said that the more aligned we are with our Inner Being and the more in alignment we are with God (one and the same, actually), the more bliss we feel. We can literally use our feelings as our guidance system. I have found this to be so true with myself and my clients time and time again.
When my client said she was a bad person and then described how much her body was in pain, it was so evident to me. I pointed out that there was nothing physically wrong with her and yet she was feeling real pain. The doctors ran every test they could and released her with no prescribed medicine to take or any recommendations for another doctor or specialist.
Put quite simply, her thoughts were hurting her. She has a belief that she is a bad person based on the things her roommates are telling her and her life experience, but she doesn’t actually believe it. She doesn’t actually think she is a bad person, but when she says those words out loud and when she thinks that, though, she feels pain. Her body was showing her what she hadn’t realized in her mood or emotions. She felt terrible. She has been feeling down for so long, she no longer registered her negative emotions as a sign that something was wrong. She was holding onto a belief so far removed from the way God sees her that it actually physically hurt her.
I believe our emotions can be an incredible guidance system, but when we ignore them for too long or numb them with vices, our bodies will step in and be the guidance system to get our attention. Ignore the emotions and feelings long enough and it will pop up as an ailment in your body. Oprah says if you ignore the whisper, you’ll get a nudge. If you ignore the nudge, you’ll get knocked over. I’m paraphrasing, of course, but the point is that your body will step into get your attention as a last resort.
When we dig into the things we believe, we can often find a repeated thought that we hold as truth when in fact, it has no basis of truth at all. In what way do you no longer question the thoughts you hold? In which ways is your body telling you something you’ve missed because you ignored the emotional clues?
Tap into the connection you have with God through prayer. Align with the universe and the source of all goodness in meditation and you will feel what I’m talking about. Pull away from that well-being and start to believe false statements and it will feel terrible. Go ahead - I dare you to pay attention. It’s fascinating.