Beliefs are everything

If you have a belief that you don’t want to do anything, then you never will do anything.

If you have a belief that you want someone to take care of you because you are incapable of taking care of yourself, then you will never do anything and you will always be dependent on someone else.

If you have a belief that you don’t want to have to do anything, then you will never be able to progress to the level of acceptance of the way life currently is showing up (i.e. you won't be able to change ANYTHING in your life).

If, because of the belief of needing someone to take care of you, you have a belief you need to get married/settle down with/partner up with someone AND you have a belief that the only people out in the dating world are sad sorry saps, then you will either “settle” for a sap, or be alone and/or miserable for the rest of your life.

If you have a belief that there’s no exceptional people around to support you, then you won’t look for anyone, and you certainly won’t appreciate the support you already have.

If you have a belief that people should never disappoint you, then you will always be disappointed or stop connecting with people altogether.

If you have a belief that it’s really the other person who disappointed you and not the expectations you placed on them that caused you to be disappointed, then you will forever be giving your power away and feel like a victim.

If you have a belief that it’s better to play it safe and be small, and not attract any attention, then no one will ever pay attention to you.

If you have a belief that you have nothing valuable to offer the world, then the world will not value what you do.

ON THE OTHER HAND...

If you had a belief that there are all kinds of things you want to do, then you will start thinking about ways to do them (beginning with, “I wonder how I could do that?”).

If you had a belief that you are strong and capable of taking care of yourself, you have true freedom because you would not be dependent on others, and you would be able to do anything without having to please others first. And because you believe you are capable, you feel capable and you begin to act capable (of anything).

If you had a belief that in order to make progress and get to where you want to go, you have to accept your current position (i.e. how life is currently showing up), and then you will look for ways to change anything standing in your way.

Since you have a belief that you can take care of yourself, you only want to partner up with someone because they too are strong and capable and have things they want to do. You would feel a source of energy, inspiration and fulfillment from this relationship.

If you had a belief that there are untold numbers of exceptional, supportive people in the world, you’d wonder what they look like, how they act and behave; you'd take stock of whether you already know some of these people. You’d nurture and appreciate these relationships. You’d also start looking for where other people like this hang out and begin spending your time there. You’d ask: I wonder where I can find these people?

If you had a belief that people sometimes have shit going on in their life and they don’t quite show up in your life the way you might wish them to, you’d think of all the times in your own life you were confused and didn't have your shit together, the times you said things you didn’t mean, the times you didn’t do things you said you would, or weren’t present for the person you were with. Then you’d love and forgive yourself for being human and feel compassion and understanding for the person who is in front of you acting in a perfectly imperfect way.

If you had a belief that you have complete freedom over the thoughts you think and the perceptions you hold, and that with willingness, you can shift your perception of anything at anytime (A Course In Miracles defines a miracle as a shift in perception), then you could shift your perception of what disappointment means to you — and realize that it was not the other person’s actions that caused you to feel disappointed, but rather your own expectations. And you can shine a light on those expectations, and say “those are mine, I’m responsible for them,” and then get to know why you had them for this person, and then smile or laugh about it. Suddenly, you're no longer disappointed! And you get to retain your power. What a relief :)

If you had a belief that the world is safe and there are people right now who are desperate to hear what you have to say, then you would start thinking of ways to start sharing your message and begin to take action. And if you had a belief that you didn’t have to do it on your own, so when you start sharing your message, you suddenly find supporters who will help carry the load. You would also have a belief that the message you wanted to share was so much larger than yourself that there was no way you were going to keep it all to yourself, because that would be selfish.

If you had a belief that the most valuable thing you have to offer is as simple as making one person smile, or one person laugh, or one person to begin to think or feel differently; and since you have a belief that there’s an infinite supply of that value to share with others, you’d want it to grow, and you’d only focus on one tiny step at a time, but also you’d want to measure every time someone laughed, or smiled, or said thank you. By the time you’re through, you will have thousands of little checkmarks next to SMILE, LAUGH, and THANK YOU. In other words, you'd be looking at the proof of your value and your worth.