Reply To: Lasting and Deep Beliefs vs Short and Shallow beliefs
Paul McCabeHi Truman,
Fantastic question. Much appreciated.
To a large extent, beliefs are never an absolute truth, but they shape and influence our reality and emotional experiences.
You can have a cluster of beliefs propping up an emotional or behavioural pattern.
We use shorthand like “good”, “bad”, “positive”, “deep-rooted”, “limiting” and “negative” to describe beliefs. They are really just decisions we made about ourselves, people, the world, life etc. based on what we have heard, watched, read, been told, learned and so forth.
Some serve us and the world in very beneficial ways (and thus are referred to as “positive”), while others help create uncomfortable feelings and experiences.
Core beliefs will tend to have more offshoot beliefs springing from them.
I have found that, when someone holds certain self-esteem beliefs, they will literally see things in a different way and notice things in the environment that someone else would likely perceive differently (or not notice at all). In other words, it might be mockery, or it might be banter. Or mockery (if established) might be “about me”, whereas other people might see it as “about them” (e.g. the person who is mocking – think about online trolling).
Beliefs like “I'm a target”, “I'm a joke”, “There is something wrong with me”, “Everybody thinks I'm a joke”, “Attention is scary” and others don't *create* mockery, of course, but if something affects us and we have not resolved it, it tends to show up a lot in life (until resolved). Yes, that is a generalisation.
From what you have written, you may have formed some “people beliefs” over the years. Everyone has these, of course. Sometimes these come out in everyday conversation.
“People are going to be mean sooner or later” is an expectation, so underneath that might be beliefs like:
– “People are mean”
– “People are cruel”
– “People are out to pick me apart”
You could absolutely blast those beliefs.
Once resolved, it will either not show up at all or show up in a different way. If someone was deliberately trying to undermine or mock someone, they would soon stop if they realised it would have no effect whatsoever. It would be like trying to KO a boxer who was wearing a suit of armour – good luck!
So, you can then “try on” any belief, seeing how holding such a belief would serve you. Think it through. How would it serve you?
For example, “People can't be trusted” (even if consciously argued) might create distrust. It is a global belief. Of course, some people can't be trusted, but many others can. So, you could eliminate the global belief and then layer in:
“Most people can be trusted, and I can discern that better now”
Or
“I trust that I will find the people who have my best interests at heart”
Or
“I am safe to be and express myself in public now”
And even
“I now remain absolutely at ease, no matter what anyone says about me”
It is important also to note that there is no absolute truth here and it is subjective really, so “everyone is good with me” would still create a positive experience – even if it feels a bit too much of a stretch for you. If someone genuinely believed that at a subconscious level (not trying to affirm it), they would likely filter out times when that wasn't the case or just see the critics as outliers.
Of course, there are random events that show up, so you can also CT those if they affect you.
Hopefully that helps, Truman.
All the best,
Paul 
Paul McCabe – PSTEC Master Practitioner
http://www.lifestyleforchange.com
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