Awareness and Confidence

                         

Do you know who you are,
what you believe, and
why you believe it?

Here I am speaking about every type of individual personal belief
that we have about life and the world in general,
including all of our beliefs about food, exercise, dieting, body image, and health.
I am not talking specifically about religious or political beliefs.

Are you aware? 
Do you look around and choose a path for yourself,
or do you just blindly follow the path laid out for you by others?

People who know who they are,
and why they believe what they believe,
tend not to find other people’s beliefs to be threatening.
They have no need to reject the opinions and beliefs
of others without considering them. 

 People who generally reject the input of others,
and refuse to even consider or entertain a new idea,
tend to lack confidence in their own beliefs.

We need to see our own personal beliefs.
Then we must choose whether to keep that belief
and to make it our own,
or to discard it as not conforming with who we want to be.

This process can help us resolve conflicting beliefs
which are sometimes a source of stress in our lives.
Each belief we choose to keep
can become our own, and part of who we are,
not just part of projecting an image, a social facade.

While we are considering whether or not to chose to keep a belief,
we need to examine it, and look to find out the details.
What is involved in the belief?
What type of circumstances does it applies to?
And, WHY do we believe it.

Once we understand which beliefs are a part of us
and which are merely part of our image,
we can choose to reject that image.
When we have enough knowledge of ourselves,
we no longer need the affirmations of others in order to feel worthy.

 Our self-worth will be balanced, not too high nor too low. 
It will be enough to be who we are, and
allow others to be who they are,
and draw shared enjoyment where we can.

It is impossible to examine one’s own beliefs without becoming aware. 
 Being Aware means knowing, understanding, and accepting
that each of us has the power to control who we are
and how we respond to any situation.

It means accepting responsibility for our own actions
Every one of them.

Knowing that we are who we choose to be
is an Awareness that will bring us toward Peace and Serenity.