How the Person You Know as Yourself Came to be

God

Country

Love

Marriage

My students frequently ask, “Exactly what is a belief?”  In Re-Creating Your Self, a belief is any idea that you accept as being true.  So any idea that you accept as being factual about God, country, love, and marriage should be included in your lists.  For example, if you believe God doesn’t exist, then that is one of your beliefs about God.  Leave spaces after each belief and after each category of beliefs.  You will need the space for a later Adventure.

STEP 2; Carefully read the lists you’ve just made.  Remember, you want to include every idea you accept as being true about God, country, love, and marriage.  Have you left out any beliefs?  If so, please add them now.

STEP 3:  Go back, and consider each belief that you’ve listed, one at a time.  Ask your self, “From whom did I first learn this truth?”  Did this belief originate with me, or did I first accept it from someone else?Did it come to me from family, friends, or a teacher?  Did I originally accept this idea from religion, science, or government?  Did I first hear it in a song, movie, or on a television show?  Did I read it in a book or magazine?  Following each belief on your lists, write the original source of your belief?

YOUR GUIDE FOR ADVENTURE 2

MARK, 35-YEARS OLD

The following represents Mark’s Adventure after completing the Adventure’s three steps.

GOD

1. Belief: God is all-powerful and perfect.  Source of belief: my minister.
2. Belief: Jesus is God.  Source of belief: my parents.
3. Belief: I’m a sinner.  Source of belief: the Bible.
4. Belief:  God punishes sinners.  Source of belief: the Bible.
5. Belief:  In life, you only get what God wants you to have.  Source of belief: my mother.
6. Belief:  Our religions are far more concerned about controlling their adherents than they are about enlightening them about God.   Source of belief: a metaphysical author I’ve studied.

COUNTRY

1. Belief:  The United States is the best country in the world.  Source of belief: my father.
2. Belief:  If asked, I should be willing to give my life for my country.  Source of belief:  grammar school teacher.
3. Belief:  The terrorists hate us for our freedom.  Source of belief:  President George W. Bush.
4. Belief: Most politicians are more concerned about their careers than they are about their constituents.  Source of belief: my self.

LOVE

1. Belief:  Love must be earned.  Source of belief: my mother.
2. Belief: Some people are unlovable.  Source of belief: Grandma Mary.
3. Belief: Love can end.  Source of belief:  My parents told me this when they divorced.
4. Belief:  The sexier you are, the more likely you are to be loved.  Source of belief: ads, radio and television commercials, movies and TV shows.

MARRIAGE

1. Belief: Marriage was a better idea when people died at 40.  Source of belief: myself.
2. Belief:  Most marriages fail.  Source of belief: Almanac.
3. Belief:  Many married people cheat on their spouses.  Source of belief: my parents.
4. Belief:  Marriage means the end of freedom.  Source of belief: my sociology teacher.
5. Belief:  Marriage leads to boredom.  Source of belief: my father.
6. Belief:  Marriage is an outdated institution.  Source of belief: most of the married people I know.

Mark had accepted eighteen of the twenty beliefs on his list from other people.  By his own admission, he had done so without examining or evaluating these ideas for himself.  That made Mark almost entirely other created in the four belief categories identified.  Most of my students discover that they are at least 50% other created.  What percentage of the beliefs you’ve listed were first accepted from others?