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When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he carried a stone tablet in his
hands. As far as we know, this is the only time God ever sent us a
message on tablets of stone. That message was the Ten Commandments.
He had already written those commandments into the fabric of the moral
universe, and He sent those stone tablets special delivery to make sure we
received the message. The Ten Commandments are like Mount Everest.
They have been here for a long time, and they aren't going away any time
soon. Four thousand years ago, there were Ten Commandments, and there
still are only ten. Personal beliefs are different. They are a choice, and they change. Personal beliefs are not commandments given by God. No universal moral agent enforces the peculiarities of your beliefs on the rest of the world. You have the privilege of choosing your personal beliefs. This should liberate you and make it easier to reach your dreams. Unfortunately, the opposite is often true. Instead of choosing liberating beliefs, you may choose limiting ones that make your dreams impossible. When given the choice between limiting beliefs and liberating ones, most people choose limiting ones. This perverse and self-destructive choice is the result of living in a negative world. Negative words and thoughts are covered in mental super glue. The words, "no, never, can't, no way, not now, and impossible," stick in your mind at an early age. When children are two years old, their favorite word is no, and it sticks in their mind for the rest of their life. By the time they are twenty years old, they have heard this word thousands of times. They become so used to hearing it, they are not surprised when it falls on their ears. Before long, their brain shifts gears and they focus on their limitations rather than on their possibilities. It's always easier to say no than it is to say yes. When you say no, you don't have to do anything except move your lips and sit back in your easy chair. When you say yes, the work has just begun. It's time for the blood, sweat, and tears to begin. Saying yes is hard. Saying no is easy. Too many people graduate from the University of Life with a Ph.D. in negative thinking. They know their limiting beliefs by heart and can effortlessly recite them. They know all the reasons why their dreams are impossible. They are also experts at telling you everything you cannot do. LIST YOUR LIMITING BELIEFS You must identify and eliminate the limiting beliefs lurking in your mind. Your dreams will sink in a sea of limiting beliefs unless you eradicate them. List your limiting beliefs and write an explanation of why they apply to you. Explain why other people get along fine without them. Take a paper and pencil and make a list of all your limiting beliefs. This will force you to think about your limitations in a disciplined manner. Most of your limitations are the result of living the unexamined life. You accept your limitations without question. Your limitations suddenly appeared at some time in the past, and you never questioned how they got there or why they should apply to you. When I drove in the deserts of Arabia, I frequently encountered mirages. My eyes told me that I was surrounded by water on all sides. Nevertheless, there wasn't a drop of water for miles in any direction. When I drove to the water, it always disappeared. Every time I examined a mirage up close, it evaporated. Limitations frequently turn out to be a mirage. When you examine them up close, they disappear. You need to examine every limitation to see if it's real, or if it's just a figment of your imagination. Your limiting beliefs are not part of the fabric of the universe, and they are not the way things must be. Limiting beliefs don't come on tablets of stone from the hand of God. They are a choice. The only limiting beliefs you will ever change are the ones you know about. You need to live the well-examined life so you can discard the limiting beliefs that keep you chained to a negative past. You need to examine every limiting belief and see how it stands up to the most powerful force in the world, God's love. |
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