What Do You Believe?

“What is spirituality?” This is one of the most frequently asked questions I get.

I describe spirituality as a process whereby we craft our own belief system based on our own life experiences. Spirituality is very much an individual journey that encourages us to take an introspective deep dive into our life experience and find meaning and purpose.

My book SOAR closes with a reflection on my belief system. Here is an excerpt:

“The lenses through which I see the world, the way in which I navigate my reality, and my belief system are all wildly different than they were at prior points in my evolution. Every iteration has played an essential role and served as a stepping stone as I progressed through my evolution, and I have crafted my own personal belief system based on my personal experiences. Rather than reciting doctrines and creeds that were developed by others, I created my own.”

Stay with me until the end of this article, where I will share with you my personal creed.

This spiritual journey is about finding your own path. It’s not about patterning yourself after my human experience, or the experiences of anyone else. This life is uniquely yours, and the joy is in the journey of discovering your own truth.

This article will guide you through the process of beginning to craft your own personal belief system.

Because this spiritual journey is an ever-changing process of self-discovery, your belief system will grow and change with you as you have new life experiences.

Before we can craft a belief system that reflects who we are at the deepest core of our being, we first need to acquaint ourselves with our current belief system.

This week, I encourage you to set aside some time to journal and reflect on the following question: “What Do I Believe?”

I realize that’s a broad question and it may be challenging to know where to start. Hence, here are a few more specific prompts to help get you started:

What do I believe about love?
What do I believe about why we are on this Earth?
What do I believe about a higher power?
What do I believe about money?
What do I believe about personal relationships?
What do I believe about faith?
What do I believe about forgiveness?
What do I believe about happiness?
What do I believe about the meaning of life?
What do I believe about challenging experiences?

Include other areas of your life until you have documented as many beliefs as you can.

The key to this exercise is to be brutally honest with yourself and to withhold judgment. Don’t strive to write down what sounds good, strive to write down your truth. For example, if you think money is hard to come by, write it. Additionally, if you think finding love is impossible, write it.

You can’t begin to craft a belief system that serves you well until you’re crystal clear on what your current beliefs are.

Then go through each belief and try to identify the origin of the belief. Is it something you truly believe or does it have family ties? It’s something passed down to you through the generations? Is it a product of societal conditioning – a belief we have inherited based on what we should or shouldn’t be?

Open-Mindedness

This spiritual journey requires a healthy dose of open-mindedness and a willingness to see the world through new lenses. You have to be willing to question every belief you’ve ever known and ask yourself it resonates with your soul. You have to be willing to unlearn everything you have learned and adopt an entirely new set of beliefs if that is where your journey is leading you.

When I talk about redesigning your belief system, I often use the analogy of cleaning out your closet. If we really want to end up with a wardrobe that truly reflects our current individual style, we should take everything out of our closet, and make a conscious, mindful decision, item by item, about what to put back. We won’t end up with an outcome that authentically reflects who we are if we poke our head in and just grab a few items to clear out. We must do a deep clean.

For each piece, we should ask ourselves “Does this reflect who I am?” “Does this reflect the direction in which I want to go?” If the answer is no, we should part ways with it, and if so, we should put it back in the closet.

If we don’t take this deep clean approach, we will end up with a wardrobe that kinda, sorta, reflects who we are, but not really.

The only way to do it right is to go through the process thoroughly and mindfully so that we can arrive at an outcome that fully represents who we are.

We must clear out the clutter that doesn’t serve us so that we can make room for the things that support the direction in which we want to go.

Does This Move Me Forward?

We can follow the same process when we discern which parts of our belief system get to stay, and which ones need to go. Therefore, ask yourself questions that anchor on the following concepts: “Does this move me forward? Does this help me grow, support my highest good, and fuel my transformation? How does this serve me?

The process of crafting your belief system is no trivial task. This deep soul work is no cakewalk. It’s a journey that requires a ridiculous amount of patience, persistence, compassion, grace, forgiveness…the list goes on. Remember to treat yourself gently and kindly, and keep reminding yourself that you are doing your best.

What Do I Believe?

In the afterword of my book SOAR, I share my reflections on what I believe and use that as a guide for my human experience.

My Creed

I believe that:

We are all one.
We are all gods and goddesses.
Everything is perfect at every moment.
We each have a purpose.
We are all infinitely powerful.
Everything is a choice.
We are all creatively limitless.
Finding and maintaining happiness is my responsibility.
Everything is a choice.
Our truth already exists within us.
Our heart always has our answers.
We are here to grow.
Every experience is a gift.
Love is always the answer.

What Do You Believe?

Now it’s your turn! Your turn to be the writer, and begin the process of crafting your belief system.

Guiding people on their spiritual journeys is what truly sets my soul on fire, so please reach out if you are looking for direction. It would be an honor and a privilege to walk alongside you.

Check out a Facebook Live I did on “What Do You Believe?” from a couple week’s back on my Facebook Group.

And as Journey would say “Don’t Stop Believin’!” I just had to!

Have a wonderful week!