Belief Systems: Living a Happiness Versus Fear Based Life

Ponder this: It is announced that Sally will be receiving a promotion to the Director of Human Resources. Her former role was a manager in Accounting. Some of her peers come up and congratulate her on her new found success. It is clear that some of these people are sincere and others are buttering Sally up, looking for a new job and perhaps a promotion under Sally in her new role. Others don't bother to congratulate her. Some of these people are jealous of Sally's new role, even though they didn't have an interest in it, while others just go about their business as if nothing significant has happened. Have you ever wondered why some people react in certain ways while others react in a completely different way? Take a moment and think about the last time you experienced anger. Frustration. Admiration. Happiness. Loneliness. What was underneath those emotions? I would like to propose that emotions are simply a symptom of a reaction to your perception and that your perception comes from a system of beliefs that you have had ingrained in you since you were only a small child. A different way of saying this could be: You developed a system of beliefs by the time you were five or six years old based on your environment and parent's teachings. This belief system has formed the way you perceive the world because your brain runs your experiences and interactions through its filter. Therefore, all of your actions and reactions are simply a symptom of how you and your brain perceive the world. Emotions are a reaction to how you have interpreted a particular stimulus. The tricky thing about emotions is that they can feel so real because they are based on our individual perception. In fact, they are "real". The concern comes in when our emotions block our ability to ask ourselves where they are coming from and why we react this way or that. Not only can we mask our emotions, but our emotions can be a mask themselves. If all emotions could be boiled down into their rawest form what they be? Some experts theorize that all of our decisions are based on two basic emotions; i) happiness, and ii) fear. Think about some of the decisions you have made in your life, some very insignificant - what should I have for lunch today? And some very significant - should I change jobs? You can easily convince yourself that any or all of these decisions was based on wanting to feel happiness or to avoid fear. Sometimes it's a combination of both. Based on the experiences in my own life I would suggest that this is probably accurate to some degree. Perhaps these decisions aren't based on overwhelming happiness or fear but if you ask yourself why enough times and answer honestly I bet you will see there is a decision to feel happiness or fear lingering somewhere deep down in every single decision you make. For example, a close friend of mine often decides not to get groceries on a Sunday afternoon. He knows that getting groceries in a crowded store can be frustrating for him. Why is it frustrating? Because people get in my way and the line-ups are too long. Why is that frustrating to you? Because it is a waste of my time and I can't get the items I want, the shelves are always empty by the end of the weekend. You can see in the above example there is fear that my close friend won't be able to get the items he wants and he will waste his time. I'm certain this is not a gripping fear, nor is it something that would starve, him if Sunday was the only day in his week to get groceries. Alternatively, going on a Tuesday, when the shelves have just been restocked and the lines are small makes my friend happy. So what can one do to overcome this dilemma of two extremes? Of course the intent of this article is not to tell you to stop feeling. That is impossible and useless. Instead, become aware of your emotions from time to time in your life. Ensuring you are practicing introspection, mindfulness, and self-awareness. Are you hearing your own voice? Consider the beliefs that provoke your emotional reactions. Are they based on happiness or fear or a combination of the two? Consider if your beliefs and emotional reactions are affecting your decisions in a way that is beneficial to living your best life or if they are something that needs to be changed. It is possible to change a belief system that you have developed and unconsciously nurtured since you were a small child. It takes practice and doesn't happen overnight but it is possible with the right training. If emotionally you find conflict with your beliefs, it's a good indication that the belief is no longer serving you. There is nothing to say you must hold onto or blame others for beliefs that you were taught and nurtured before this time. The realization that it is no longer serving a purpose or even in some cases causing you psychological harm is enough to stop reconciling the past and focus on what you have in front of you.http://ezinearticles.com/?Belief-Systems:-Living-a-Happiness-Versus-Fear-Based-Life&id=7656097