A Challenge

Not every post will result in homework.  I promise.  Most will just be me ranting on one topic or another. :^P  This one really is worth doing, though.  The results will almost certainly surprise you.

Regardless of your beliefs, regardless of what political party--if any--or religion--if any--you belong to, regardless of how fervently you cling to those beliefs, I challenge you to do the following (and I can't take credit for this idea; it's an exercise that was presented to me a few years back, but it's a darn good one, so I'm passing it on):

Pick a topic on which you hold beliefs.  It can be any topic, as long as you believe something about that topic.  It would probably be good to start with a simple topic so that you can get the hang of the exercise before you tackle something more complex.

Beginning with your deepest-held, most core beliefs on that topic, write down your beliefs.  Work from those deepest, most core beliefs to the less deeply-rooted ones.  Write down every single belief on that topic that you hold and can bring to mind.  Be completely honest.  No one else ever has to see your list.  You can burn it after, if you like.  Or eat it.  Whatever you like.  If you're less than completely honest, you're just cheating yourself.  And who wants to cheat themselves, really?  We get enough of that elsewhere.  So do yourself a favor and be brutally honest with yourself.  It might be uncomfortable in the short term, but you'll thank yourself for it.

Once you feel as certain as you can that you've written down every belief, read through your list.

Do you like all your beliefs?  It may sound a strange question, but you might be surprised at how often the answer is "no."

Are your beliefs consistent with each other?  In other words, are there statements in your list that contradict each other?  If so, why?  And are you okay with the idea of living with those internal conflicts?

If you don't like some of your beliefs, of if you have conflicting beliefs and don't want to leave them that way, you may want to further analyze and possibly change some of your more superficial beliefs to be more in line with your core beliefs.

How do you change a belief?  Well, changing a core belief is difficult.  Our core beliefs are called core beliefs for a reason; they help make up the core of who we are as people.  The more superficial a belief is, though, the easier it is to change.  That's one reason why superficial beliefs get changed to line up with core beliefs and not the other way around.  We change superficial beliefs all the time; it's literally as simple as changing our minds.  Usually, if a superficial belief contradicts a core belief, just the awareness of that contradiction is enough to change the superficial belief...or to at least begin the process.

Getting rid of an old belief, though, is just part of it; the question is, what do you believe now?

The great thing about this exercise is that it can be done on a wide array of topics, and it can be repeated numerous times.  You can even perform the exercise on the same topic at certain intervals to see what may have changed.

You never know what's in your heart and mind until you look into it.  Most of us are too afraid of what's inside to look very closely.  Take the time to take a long, hard look.  See if you like what you see.  If not, change it.  You deserve to be someone you can be proud of.  And if you already are, there may be room for improvement.  If there's not, enjoy the validation and start teaching classes to us mere mortals. ;^P