First we create our beliefs and then our beliefs create us.

Nathan

Nathan

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Location
High Desert- Calif.
There isn't a section in the forum like Philosophy or Religion or Mental Health to put this post in, so Health I guess is the closest.
What about the statement: "First we create our beliefs and then our beliefs create us" does that resonate with you, strike a chord in your thinking?

A Taichi instructor I follow online posted in her blog the following:
"If we have limiting beliefs about ourselves we will unconsciously make choices and do things that will result in proving to ourselves that these limiting beliefs are true.
I believe that [...] is not a place where I would like to live and I don't like the people who live in this country.
So the two times I come to live in [...] terrible things happen to me with the people to prove to me that I am correct.
Even if I came here both times with an open mind, optimistic and enthusiastic to make a new life for myself I still managed to sabotage each attempt without realizing. As a result I have proven to myself that it is not good for me to live in [...].
Now I have a choice, I can be a victim of my present circumstances or I can recognize that I made some decision or I unconsciously behaved in some way that created all this.
What have you done to prove to yourself something that is self limiting?
Have you taken responsibility for what happened or do you see yourself as the victim of your circumstances? "
 

Never really thought about limits or at least not when applying for a job.

As a teen I started work stocking shelves in a family owned large grocery store. Didn't like the boredom so I asked my employer if there was something else that I could work at. An opening in the meat department sounded interesting. A year & 1/2 later fully qualified as a retail butcher. After graduation I was accepted by Kroger company to cut meat in one of their stores. Just couldn't envision myself doing that for the rest of my life.

Joined the Navy had success in so many ways it would take to much to describe. But making E-6 jet engine mechanic in the shortest possible time pretty much says it all. But after 10 years & some aggravating circumstances I got out & moved to Puerto Rico.

There worked for a few companies always rising to management but the pay was low. Then got a job with the US post office there & very quickly became bored out of my mind so I quit & we moved back to the U S with two of our 3 sons, two suitcases of clothes & the thought that opportunity was going to happen.

Began working for 84 lumber company in sales. Worked part time for various contractors like electrical, plumbing, framing, roofing & painting. That was interesting but with no benefits I needed something that paid more. A local manufacturer needed tractor trailer drivers so without any experience I applied. Hired it was on the job training. Anyone that has driven a 18 wheeler understands that backing a 45ft. by 13.6 box on the blindside takes skill. Serro Scotty trailer manufacturer in Irwin PA. has just that as the way to deliver to their warehouse. Not to mention aligning the trailer to fit between the door seal with only one ft. clearance on each side.

Other part time included $20.00 a load driving a tri-axel dump with a 20 ton load backing into a Jersey spreader hauling 2b subsurface for road building. 7 loads a day was big money when we needed it most.

The last was going from a heavy equipment field repair mechanic to 1st. line supervision & ending up a department manager. That last position got to be boring so when I could retire at 54 with great pension, health care paid & well funded 401k. it was a no brainer.

Latest challenge to no limits was complete bathroom renovation. Completed with total success in plumbing, tile laying.

That was a little long but doesn't cover near the experiences I've had along the way. Just never felt limited & still don't.
 
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To me these two statements from Leia's blog are the crux of the post:
First we create our beliefs and then our beliefs create us
Click to expand...

If we have limiting beliefs about ourselves we will unconsciously make choices and do things that will result in proving to ourselves that these limiting beliefs are true.
Click to expand...

....and speaks to what can be called a "self fulfilling prophecy", an excuse to NOT experience the most we could. The phrase "I think, therefore I am" comes to mind, the mind having limitless capabilites but also having limitless capability to 'imprison' itself.
 

I'm just the opposite. There have been a lot of things in my life at which I thought I could succeed but failed due to things that were beyond my control. But I continue to try new things because, what else am I gonna do? Just sit around and watch TV? Hell, if I keep trying, maybe someday I'll actually be successful at something. :cool:
 
Since I read the book, The Art of Positive thinking by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, I have always followed the positive thinking theory. It works for me and in the dark periods of my life, that is what got me through it.

Whatever I have done in my life is usually based on a choice I made. Maybe a bad choice but I did it and had to live with it or find a way to change it.

Now I feel I am at the happiest point of my life because I, alone, am responsible for whatever I do. I have never felt like I was a victim of a circumstance I got into, just felt I got into it so now I have to get out of it. Which I did.
 
My wife has opened me up to experience more things. The adjustment I've had to make is that rather than focusing on what I don't like about a future situation or possibility, I continue to acknowledge my thoughts but also open myself up to the possibility of something magical happening. It's allowed me to be more accepting of doing things with less of an overall plan than I used to. And as a result things have happened which have been unexpected and magical. Another way for me to view it is going with the flow and looking out for the positives.

When I first read the OP my thoughts went straight to self fulfilling prophesies.
 
I've got Jesus...so together we've got this ;)👍

EDIT: But, admittedly, sometimes I lose my focus on Jesus' guidance and make bad choices...which lead to natural consequences...which leads to comprising perfection...which leads to redefining all I was created to be. You are what you eat so to speak.
 
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"Have you taken responsibility for what happened or do you see yourself as the victim of your circumstances? "

This is one of those questions that is neither black or white. The Buddhist's have a philosophy of "Dependent origination".

Dependent origination removes the duality of our thinking. It cleanses our palate from thinking only in terms of competitive individualism, of us against them, of good or evil, of winner or loser. This insight allows us to see beyond our misguided concepts of separation and isolation, and we realize the interdependence between all things. We see how we are all intimately connected, and there is nothing more profound.


This simple precept reveals that up can’t exist without down, that East can’t exist with West, that wealth cannot exist without poverty, that life cannot exist without death. If we never knew what dry means, then we would never be able to realize wet.
 
Interesting question I thought about. First we start with a belief (often by jumping to a conclusion) and then look for reasons to believe or agree with it. Even when all the evidence is against it. This is Wishful thinking and confirmation bias. Wishful thinking is a huge motivator. I do it myself. It is part of Ideologies, religion, etc.
We need to feel better about ourselves. Yeah, some is self-fulfilled prophecy. I have heard that all my life.
because you want something to be true doesnt make it so, despite my positive thinking. These super positive thoughts or dreams can and are crushed, vanish, by continuous disappointment, frustration. The other approach is people who never try, take no risks, have no goals. It is difficult to generalize about human nature and people. All the self help books--meh.
 
Life hasn't exactly dealt me the best hand but I do my best to muddle through each day. But had I given into the victim mentality and refused to fight for myself...I'd be in a psyche ward somewhere right now. Probably for life.
 
If an actual dam breaks, being able to swim isn't going to help you. However, if something floaty you can hang onto comes drifting by at the right moment, that's your ticket.
 
The fact is that a person unconsciously restricts himself, because it is profitable for him not to leave the comfort zone. And in order for us not to create an internal feeling of helplessness, a protective mechanism is developed, which is called depreciation.

By devaluing the exit from the comfort zone, and therefore continuing to limit our thoughts and opportunities, we do not feel the grief of failure. It is much more difficult to take responsibility, to say that I did something stupid and try to force myself and risk getting nothing to act for the fulfillment of my dreams or something else.
 
I always had a belief that a good education would get me far in life and that I would make lots of money. After all, you see ideas like that drummed into your head every day on TV. After going to college at night for 17 years and graduating from law school the only job I got was working as a floor sweeper. I'm not the only one who went through such an experience as many went broke. That is why student debt is at $1.7 trillion as all too often college and post graduate education is nothing more than a dead end.
 

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