Send to Kindleby: Staci Stallings
This is me, still being fascinated with the conscious-subconscious connection.
I have a question for you that mimics the answer to: “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” in that maybe there really is no way to know the correct answer. So here we go…
Which came first, the experience or the belief?
I can make a case for either alignment.
For example, you have an experience. Let’s say that someone called you an idiot.
Let’s further say that this happened over and over again.
Do you begin to believe what you are told? You might.
And in this case, experience comes before the belief.
But wait!
What if you DON’T believe you are an idiot? What if you continue to not believe you are an idiot?
Does the experience trump your ability to believe what you believe?
Good question.
The reason this question is so important is that our subconscious–those little sailors down in the hull of our ship–are given their instructions by our belief. So if we BELIEVE we are an idiot, we are going to act that way because that is what the sailors have been told to do!
However, if we don’t BELIEVE it, the sailors will act on what they really believe, and we won’t act like an idiot.
Now let’s say that your boss consistently says you make “so many mistakes.”
At first, if our belief is that “I don’t make mistakes,” we might shrug this experience off. But if this is the input we are consistently given, it is possible that our belief — at least around our boss — will begin to change. Our belief shifts to something like, “My boss thinks I make a lot of mistakes. I don’t want him to think I make mistakes. I don’t want to make any mistakes!”
Look at the word given to our subconscious over and over: mistakes, mistakes, mistakes
What do you think will be the experience that comes from this new belief? It probably starts with “mis” and ends with “takes.”
So why am I telling you this?
Because the reverse is equally true and powerful.
To change your experience you must change your belief. But to change your belief, you must change your experience!
Let’s say you want more time in your day.
Look at what you are consistently telling your subconscious sailors.
Is it things like, “Why am I always late?” “I can’t believe I’m late again.” “I’m always late, no matter what I do!”
The trick is to change what you are telling yourself. “I love being early. It gives me so much time to get ready.” “Thank You, God for teaching me how to be early.” “It’s a good thing I left early.”
Retrain what you are putting in as your experience and as your belief changes, so will your life!
I understand what you are saying. I agree with you. One of the worst things anyone ever told me was when my mother said to me, “If you can’t get along with me, then you’ll never get along with anyone else.” Ouch. That’s been a hard thing to overcome. I don’t get along with other people sometimes. I was diagnosed with bipolar 20 years ago. Interpersonal relationships are hard for me. So it seemed as if what she said was true. I have to hold on tightly that God says I am His and that He loves me. It is a continual process. I have to be persistent or I go into depression. But you are completely right that it boils down to what our core belief is. And we do have a choice what that is. Thank you for your encouraging words.