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Today's
quotation:
We
are incredibly heedless in the formation of our beliefs,
but find ourselves with an illicit passion for them when
anyone proposes to rob us of their companionship. It is obviously not the ideas themselves that are dear
to us, but our self-esteem that is threatened.
James
Harvey
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Today's
Meditation:
My
beliefs have really been a pain in my neck throughout my
life. They can be quite annoying in the way that
they keep me from seeing the way things truly are, and I
know in my heart not only that I let them keep me from
seeing things, but that I use this fact to make me feel
more self-righteous when I see things that I feel are bad
or wrong. My beliefs keep me judging others.
I
don't like being a judge of other people and their
actions. When I judge others I'm putting myself on a
pedestal, even in a very minor way, for I "know" that my way
of seeing something is the "right" way, and if
someone's doing something the "wrong" way I can
judge them pretty mercilessly.
I
was taught when I was young that it's important to hold on
to my beliefs and to live by them. As I've grown and
watched my beliefs change constantly, though, I've
realized that this is really bad advice. I've
learned that it's important to learn about my beliefs and
to allow them to change and grow and develop so that they
don't keep me enchained and unable to progress in
life. I've learned that a challenge to my beliefs is
not a challenge to me as a human being--or a spiritual
being--but a challenge to my beliefs, and such a challenge
should not affect my self-esteem in any way at all.
Do
I want to defend my beliefs against any challenge when I
know that they may be different three years from
now? Do I want my beliefs to control my actions, and
then look back years from now and regret my actions
because they were the result of an immature set of
beliefs? I hope that I'm able to allow them to grow,
rather than allowing them to control me and my actions.
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