I’m always advising people to do reflection and make lists and inventories. Review, review, review.

Do you even know what your core beliefs are? Those are those things that you believe beyond a shadow of a doubt. But do you know not only what they are but where they came from?

These are the things you were taught as you were growing up. When you hear the same thing day after day, you begin to believe it….especially if you never questioned it.

A belief is just a thought you keep thinking. It’s not as if God came to you and told you to believe that people who don’t look like you aren’t good people. No, it wasn’t from God but so many of us act like what we believe was decreed by the almighty. And it really was just your parents, your teachers, your spiritual leaders, peers, media etc.

Do you want to continue to just blindly believe something you heard repeatedly in school? Especially if you hated school?

The way our beliefs develop is surreptitious and can he dangerous. I think we need them as we’re growing so that we have some guidelines. But where all these influencers (parents, teachers, spiritual leaders) go wrong is that they don’t teach children to question and review their beliefs.

You have to be aware of what’s going on around you and inside you and be willing to examine these things in detail. Then be willing to change your thinking and your beliefs.

If you’re upset or frustrated or angry or any emotion, step away and ask yourself where that feeling came from. Even if you can’t answer the question, just the fact that you asked it will be the start of a new awareness habit.

Start today. How did you react to what you read here? Where did that come from?