The One Belief That Matters Most

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.” ~Stuart Chase.

There is one huge belief that has a humongous influence on all others because it represents and touches everything else. This one belief that matters most is the one we each have about our individual power to undo realities we don’t like and create new ones we want. And in the end it turns out that it is not our apparent inability to change realities we are convinced are true that is the problem, but rather our beliefs (opinions) about these realities and the truth we believe about them.

So, it is not really what your think you know to be so that matters most, but rather how you feel about what you know to be so. Beliefs are a tightly wrapped bundle of compelling thoughts and convincing feelings that become almost impervious to change, in spite of the evidence. Oddly, we are generally quick to embrace a belief, but very hesitant to discard one without a fight to the death.

Progress in our journeys requires an open mind to learning, growing and improving in the six important areas of our self-development—physical, intellectual, emotional, social, vocational and spiritual. But behind this all, is our fundamental belief in the power we have to overcome and change the realities in the way of our progress in these six areas.

Say you are involved in any of these kinds of realities:

• You are suffering excruciating pain from a recent injury or never adapted to a birth handicap.

• You are getting frustrated because you can’t think your way out of a business or relationship problem.

• You are starting to get worried about all the things that are going wrong lately or are beginning to get depressed about being depressed.

• You are getting irritated with friends and their lack of sensitivity to your difficulties or your just can’t communicate with your partner.

• You are unemployed or disappointed in not getting a promotion you worked hard for.

• You are tempted to have an affair or do something against what you think is right.

What is the common denominator to dealing with these realities to get the outcomes you want? Simply the degree to which you believe in your power to do anything about them, which usually translates into a choice of how to react, before you realize it.

Unfortunately beliefs are often quickly believed to be very true and create expectations that are validated by experience, which set them in concrete. But no matter what the internal accounting system says in the way of stacked experience, you always have the ultimate freedom to believe or not believe in a particular belief you have. It is a choice that is so obvious, that it is obscure.

It does no good to question why you believe in this or that, especially when you want to be open to the possibility of a particular belief not being true. What matters most, is how is the belief serving you? Is it helping you develop yourself in these six important life areas or is it a major roadblock to progress? If the belief is helping you move forward, what can you do to give it a boost and go faster and farther? If it is a huge boulder in your way, how can you roll, move, go around, dig under or climb over it?

Are you happy about the many realities you have repaired and made better because you believed in your power to do so, or are you trying to work into that belief? Just be careful that the believing opportunities aren’t passing you by.