The Power of Beliefs by Karen Taylor

The Power of Beliefs

Beliefs bombard our daily lives. We can see beliefs being “sold” continuously over the television screen: “Blondes have more fun”; “With the perfect car you too will experience utopia.” We can laugh at the ludicrousness of some ideas, and yet not even begin to question the many beliefs that we have accepted from infancy onward that shape our lives.

From earliest childhood we have heard an onslaught of ideas that we accepted from those around us, (parents, teachers, siblings, etc.). Our parents, looking out for us the best way they knew how, repeated many of the same beliefs taught them. A belief held with conviction produces seemingly automatic responses: “Good girls don’t argue,” if believed, could either produce a feeling of fear, anger, or depression over not being “good” if one wished to argue. When a belief is being delivered or sold to us there are conclusions (beliefs or truths) drawn:

“Be seen but not heard.” (Conclusion: What I say doesn’t matter.)
“Don’t question what I say; just listen.” (Conclusion: Other people’s statements are more important than my own.)
“If you loved me, you would keep your room neat/ do your homework, etc.” (Conclusion: If I don’t do what my mother wants, it means I don’t love her.)

These beliefs don’t stop in childhood, but continue onward into adolescence and adulthood mounting up evidence about ourselves:

“If you loved me, you would: be more interested in what I have to say/ do more chores around the house/ buy me that new car, etc.” (Conclusion: I still have to do what other people want in order to prove that I love them.)
“You make me furious!” (Conclusion: I cause what others feel.)
“If you don’t have a college education in life you won’t go anywhere.” (Conclusion: Since I don’t want to go to college, I’ll never go anywhere in life. There must be something wrong with me.)

By the time we reach adulthood most of us have a firm foundation of beliefs; some that support us and some that do not. The beliefs we hold fuel our emotions and behaviors. We might want to ask: Do the beliefs we hold serve us? Do they empower us or lead us to feel helpless and unhappy?

The Option Method is designed to assist us in questioning those self-defeating beliefs we have acquired in an environment that is safe, accepting, and non-judgmental. Option teaches us a method of gently examining the foundation of our self-defeating beliefs so that we can release beliefs that don’t serve us. When we begin to question the validity of our self-defeating beliefs we begin to uncover the often hidden reasons we have held onto those beliefs that have caused us discomfort or pain.

We all have the power to change our beliefs. Even though we have many beliefs we have never questioned, that seem automatic, at one time or another we accepted them We are still accepting them now if we believe them.

Because the consequences of believing self-defeating beliefs can be so life-altering, it behooves us to harness our power to reconsider the validity of assumptions we have made. By questioning the validity of dis-empowering beliefs and reassessing them, we give ourselves an opportunity to change those corresponding unhappy emotions and behaviors as well.

Using the benefits of the Option Method allows us to utilize our abilities to examine and re-create our perception of reality thereby increasing our sense of self-empowerment, self-acceptance, personal clarity and happiness.

by Karen Taylor

If you’d like to have someone help you through the dialogue questions the first few times, consider working with an Option Method Practitioner.

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The Power of Beliefs