Have you ever questioned why you believe the things you believe? We live in a world where every day we encounter people who have completely opposing beliefs, so who is correct? How did you come to choose the ones that you hold? Or do you not even know why you believe some of the things you believe? Where did you get your beliefs?
Questions questions…
From what I’ve been able to figure out over the last ten years or so through study, observation and first hand experience, is that people plant a seed and we either choose to water it or let it die.
But, are we consciously aware of the seeds being planted?
The reason for bringing this up today is that I had an experience which made me realize just how fast a seed could be planted and take growth. As I was about to go for a walk this morning, I was chatting with my husband and he casually asked where I was planning on walking. There’s a series of tracks through the bushes near our place which I’d been planning on taking. “Oh, don’t go that way” he said to me, not offering any real reason why. I figured it was because he was worried there might be snakes, which is something that never really concerns me. “Yeah no worries” I said and headed off in the other direction, changing my plans to just walk around in the built up area instead.
As I got to the end of the built up area where the other end of the track comes out, I figured I’d just head back down there like I had dozens of times before. Today was different though, for some unknown reason I felt uneasy. I started off down the path and before I knew it I’d encountered a swarm of wasps. I stopped in my tracks and was about to turn around, then told myself I was being really silly and moved onwards. I kept going and passed some other people and felt at ease again. The trees get much denser the closer you get to home, the canopy above creates a darker and more cool feeling and the path is much less used. I was enjoying wandering along thinking about a number of different things, until I walked straight into a spiders web that was across the path.
I hate spiders. Yes, I screamed….
It’s web was all in my hair and I could feel it on my skin still, even though I couldn’t see it. I brushed wildly at my hair to make sure nothing was in there, then got my shit together, picked up my phone and continued. I was feeling really rattled by now!
Then it hit me.
I realized exactly what had happened. This wasn’t my fear or concern, it was someone else’s. I loved this track and always enjoyed coming along it regardless of the weather or season. My husband’s words had planted a seed in me, then unconsciously I’d worried about what he’d said. Wow. I was really quite stunned. I’ve spent so long learning about this subject and each day I really work on being mindful and selective of what I think as much as possible, yet in less than one hour I’d allowed someone to plant a weed in my garden and it was off and growing! The speed of this absolutely stunned me, yet made it totally clear how an unmonitored mind could have weeds planted in it all day long without ever being aware of it.
Our minds are incredibly fertile and when thoughts are mixed with emotion, just about any seed can grow in there at lightning speed. As you go throughout your day today, I challenge you to look at some of the thoughts you have and question yourself as to why you are having them. Are they your own, do you know where they came from, if someone planted the seed, who, and what was there reason for planting it? Put simply, where did you get your beliefs?
