Last week someone submitted new footage of the Loch Ness 'monster' in Scotland. I've always been fascinated by this phenomenon, and I am happy to believe that some pre-historic creature has literally survived the ages (first sighted by modern man in the 1930s) and just happily lives in that body of water.So here's what I'm wondering: Does believing in something make it so? And if the answer is "No"- does that just mean you don't truly believe? If there is doubt, even a smidgin... will that stop you from manifesting anything? Did Einstein doubt himself? Edison? Franklin?
Peter Pan convinced Wendy and her brothers that they could fly by saying... "I believe! I believe! I believe!" (oh, and some fairy dust courtesy of Tink). The bottom line for the latest new-age craze, The Secret, is "Ask, Believe, Receive." In the 1947 film, Mircale on 34th Street, the main senitment is the definition of faith: "Faith is believing in something when common sense tells you not to."And last, but not least, the mantra of The X-Files:
Yes, I use a lot of pop-culture examples to back-up the question at hand, but I think it's a mindframe that's been there all along and continues to surface in these types of popular cultural instances over and over throughout the years. For myself, I am learning to cultivate and institute the art of believing and gratitude in my everyday life. I am often distracted by doubt stemming from emotions and human need, but all in all, I would say belief is the foundation from which all my accomplishments have been based on... believe it or not.
3 comments:
Although the "Secret" has been repackaged and thrust into the spotlight lately, it's not a secret, and it has been around for centuries as you have pointed out. After future pull grabs you however, there is no turning back. (So brace yourself, hold onto something solid. At least until you find out that there is no such thing...)
"Did Einstein doubt himself?"
I think it's more about not doubting the fundamental nature of everything, and I don't think that he did. Or at least not after a certain point in his life. Einstein once said that the single most important question that you can ask yourself is whether the universe you live in is a kind or a hostile place. He believed, as I do, that either way you answer the question, you are absolutely correct.
Not all beliefs can be lumped into one category. There's a difference between believing in yourself and believing in the loch ness monster.
Believing in something doesn't make it so; evidence does. Whether there really is a loch ness monster can be found out (I highly doubt it's that hard to mount a sea expedition to find out, if you're loaded enough to do it).
When it comes to believing in yourself though, that's entirely different because the evidence hasn't really been manufactured yet. Equal portions of facts/logic and confidence need to work together.
To say that "I believe I can fly" doesn't automatically make me able to fly, on account of gravity and body structure.
Whereas with Einstein (or whoever you want to pick) it's not the same thing. It's completely different to take other people's opinions of you as facts about your abilities/potential, especially since those people aren't exposed to all the things do. That was probably the case with Einstein and failing physics in school (or whatever it was he did poorly at).
Believing is going beyond ordinary existence, in my humble opinion. Who can place limits on the inner dimensions of such things? I guess when it becomes malevolent or that mixed with abnormality, then you'd have to step in and stop it.
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