The way we process the world is driven by our belief structure as opposed to our belief structure being formed by how we process the world
Annie Duke (former professional poker player)
I am the center of my universe.
Every day, when I open my eyes,
the world happens to me
and around me
I am a meaning-making machine
and every event and
situation which happens,
I interpret and make sense
of it in my own unique way
This unique way are my beliefs.
I built these beliefs through
my many childhood and
adult experiences.
Most of them were automatic
eg there will always be a tomorrow
and some of them were deliberate
eg tender coconut is the best ice cream flavor
All my actions flow from these beliefs
which I hold so close to myself
I will always order tender coconut
ice cream because it is the best.
I might even refuse to try others
to be steadfast in what I believe
This inner world serves me well
to filter out what I consider as
noise and irrelevant till one day,
the ice cream shop suddenly closes down.
Now I ask deep existential questions
like “Now that tender coconut
is not there, what will I do?”
“Who am I?” is a question
which is a short breath away
To avoid landing in this
deep existential state
it’s best to confront regularly
one’s beliefs by
asking a simple question
Does this belief make
my life simple or
make me more rigid?
share in comments
What is one belief which you feel very strongly about?