Oprah Winfrey once said, “You don’t get what you hope or wish for, you get what you believe.” I’ve found that to be true.
Our beliefs and what we think determines how we fare in life. Be it that those beliefs are to our benefit or to our detriment. Some of those beliefs society planted in us, some it might be what we were told growing up by our parents, family or any person that had an influence on us. I’ve sometimes found when you tell someone that what they believe matters, they say “but let’s be realistic.” What is reality? It is subjective because what is real to me might not be real to you.
What I’ve found to be one of the best examples of belief in action is Jim Carrey’s story. I watched a video on YouTube where he was talking about how he wrote himself a check for 10 million dollars. He wrote on the check “for acting services rendered.” He dated the check a number of years from when he wrote it. He did this when he was a broke and struggling actor. He didn’t have much to his name and couldn’t have known if he’d ever get that kind of money. What he had was belief. He believed that he would receive that money. In the exact year he had written on that check, he found out he would be getting paid 10 million dollars for a movie he was to take part in. Now that’s the power of belief.
In his book Think and grow rich Napoleon Hill talks about how he managed to make his son believe being born without ears would be an asset. He was proved right when his son not only gained hearing but helped others to do the same. None of that would have happened if Napoleon Hill hadn’t believed and in turn caused his son to believe as well. He made his son believe, in a process that I think every parent can learn from. I’m not going to attempt to explain it to you because I won’t be able to do it justice. It would be better if you read it for yourself.
‘Think and grow rich’ is one book I strongly suggest you read if you haven’t read it yet. I got it for $0.99 on Amazon. In fact most of the books I mention here are quite affordable. What I got from this book is priceless. It is one book you cannot afford to miss out on if you really want to change your life.
I remember before I got admitted to practice as a lawyer I used to have a fear of going to court; I was told it was an intimidating place, especially for women. I thought the judges were scary and were out to get you. I thought this because of stories I’d heard and because of what I believed about a courtroom having been a place to be afraid of. Now I enjoy going to court. Cross examining someone and getting them to say what I want gives me such a high. I can’t believe I used to be scared by the idea of appearing in court! My beliefs are what scared me. Granted there are times where I’ve embarrassed myself in front of a judge or Magistrate but I’ve laughed it off afterward and more often than not they just smile and shake their heads.
Look at your life and what is happening around you. What are your beliefs? Are you normally proved right or wrong? I can’t speak for every situation you might experience, but for me, I’ve found what I believe is what ends up happening, even when I’m hoping for something else. Whether it’s our beliefs about money, about relationships or about our values, what we believe plays a part in what happens in our lives.
I have beliefs that I’m changing through affirmations because I’ve had those beliefs for a long time. I didn’t even realize I had those beliefs until I took stock of my thinking and my beliefs. Now that I know what they are, I’m working on changing those beliefs, I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I’m doing it, and it’s making all the difference. It wouldn’t hurt to do the same.
Since I’m hoping you’re reading this because you want to change your life, you have to think about what your beliefs are. For you to achieve anything, you have to believe that it is going to happen. Whether you believe in yourself, in God, or in your dreams, you have to believe. To believe in what you do not see yet is called faith, so you have to have faith.
You have to believe that God is on your side and that He wants to make you happy and to prosper you. You have to do your part by saying what it is that you’d like and then holding on to the belief that it will happen. Even if it takes a month, a year, 10 years, it will happen. And if it doesn’t happen the way you hoped for, something bigger and better will take its place because God is cool like that.
