Why and how the things you belief shape your life

Just some thoughts on the stories we tell ourselves that become the beliefs and perspectives by which we live our lives  

‘Letting go of the past means you can enjoy the dream that is happening right now. If you live in a past dream, you don’t enjoy what is happening right now because you will always wish it to be different than it is. There is no time to miss anyone or anything because you are alive. Not enjoying what is happening right now is living in the past and only being half alive. This leads to self-pity, suffering, and tears.’ - The Four Agreements

We all carry and hold onto so much of what has happened in our lives. It is important and has shaped us, but too often it becomes unconsciously imprinted in our brain. Past Feelings, experiences, and pain write stories that we tell ourselves about how life should go and how we see ourselves. That we believe is "Truth". That we end up living by. The most difficult part about this is that we don’t even realize that they are there and that we are confining our perspectives on life to what these stories tell us. These can derive from little things or big ones that determine how we view relationships, break-ups, jobs, money, and desires.

There are so many of these stories that I am beginning to acknowledge in my own life. There is no one to blame for why I believe the world should be this way, but it is so important for me to identify the beliefs and be aware of when I take them to be true. All of these beliefs and story’s come from my past and I am grateful for the lessons I have learned but they don’t need to determine my beliefs in the future and identifying and acknowledging them is a lesson I need to learn and continue to practice in order to free myself from them and change my perspective.

Take a Look at your own life and beliefs

What are some things that are holding you back? What is something that you are holding onto? What are your beliefs about money or relationships or friendships or money or work? Are those stories you believe about them holding you back and weighing you down? If you believe these stories then they will be true because you will live your life with the idea that they are true. If you believe relationships can only end badly because perhaps that is what you have experienced in your own life, then you may be scared to leave or enter into one.

Of course, it all ties back into that minimalist mentality. Minimalism isn't just about cleaning and decluttering your physical belongings but it’s also about your mental state and baggage that we lug around with us. What you think and believe attracts more of what you think and believe. If you have the belief that you are not smart enough for a promotion, then your views and emotional state will weight you down and prevent you from doing your very best and every little failure will simply reinforce that belief. If you believe you are a bad ass intelligent powerful person, then the failures will only be small setbacks you need to overcome and they will not break you.

Take a moment and scan your body. Think about your relationships. Think about your relationship with money. Think about your relationships to your family. What are the "truths" about these things for you? Do you believe money is evil because you have always struggled with it? Do you believe relationships are dangerous because that is what you saw growing up? Do you believe you are not enough because of a situation or experience? Write it down. Then give gratitude for those experiences and those beliefs because your mind was implementing them in your brain in order to protect you. Let them know you no longer need protection and that you need to let them go now. Then write down what kind of beliefs you would like to put in place of the ones you just let go of. You need new beliefs that you have consciously chosen in order to fill the empty space. Hold and carry these new perspectives with you for the next few days and remind yourself of them. You have the power to change your perspective so 'you can enjoy the dream that is happening right now.'