A traveler settled into a new town. The first day there, he met a gentleman who was a lifelong resident of the community. The traveler asked the gentleman, "What sort of people live here?"
"What were the people like where you've come from?" asked the long-timer.
"They were a bad lot,” the newcomer said. “Troublemakers everywhere, negative and selfish people. Not a one of them could be trusted. I'm so glad to be out of that town."
"Well, I'm afraid that you'll find the same sort of people here,” said the gentleman.
Needless to say, the traveler was disappointed and trudged away.
Sometime later, another traveler showed up in the town and was looking to settle there as well. He spoke with the long-time resident and asked him, "What sort of people live in this town?"
The long-timer asked the traveler, "What were the people like where you've come from?"
To which this traveler said, "They were the best people in the world. Hard-working, honest, and friendly. I'm sorry to be leaving them."
"Well,” said the gentleman, "You'll find the same sort of people here."
Even though it was the exact same town for the two travelers, the wise gentleman knew the travelers would have different experiences. The story is a reminder that we don’t see things as they are, we see and experience things as we are.
From a spiritual perspective, it is a reminder that “Life is consciousness.” Put another way, life is the sum total of our beliefs. Consciousness is the foundation of all our experiences. That’s because our consciousness determines the thoughts we think, which in turn influences our emotional state. Those emotions determine actions we take (or don’t take) in life. And our actions dictate our life experiences.
One of the key beliefs that many people hold to some degree or another is the conscious or unconscious idea that “I’m not enough.” If we believe this notion that we are not enough, it often leads to a sense of unworthiness. If we feel unworthy, we may not pursue our heart’s desires and thus don’t get the results we long for. This reinforces the belief of “I’m not enough.” The result is often an endless loop we can’t seem to get out of.
A relevant question to ask is, “How do we change our limiting beliefs?” This is not an easy thing to do. Many of our beliefs have been accumulated over a lifetime. We’re not even conscious of some of them.
It’s not about reading more books or studying more personal development techniques. It’s not about using more positive affirmations or raising our vibrations. (We can’t “Om” our way out of these patterns.)
One strategy to transform our consciousness is to realize that beliefs are decisions. And if we want to reset the direction of our life and create a new future, we must make new decisions.
We’ve been given the ability to make new decisions each and every day. With each new decision comes a new set of thoughts that support those decisions, as well as a new set of emotions. This leads to actions in integrity with those thoughts and emotions. The by-products are new results in our life.
We don’t always need to know how to make our new decisions happen. We just need to decide. And when we decide, we begin to break up old patterns and a new future begins to emerge.
This is one way we can alter our consciousness and change our lives.
Peace and Blessings,
James