[viscapes]

Hi Kanger,

Beliefs are so important in defining how we feel, and you're absolutely right that simply recognising your beliefs is a great first step to changing them.

Tony Robbins describes beliefs as being like tables tops where the legs supporting them are the experiences we've had in life that provide references for forming our beliefs. If you find a disempowering belief think about the references you use to support that belief, the experiences you've had in life that contribute to you holding that belief. Then for each of the references ask yourself how this experience could be interpretted differently to support a more empowering belief. Take each of the table-legs supporting your disempowering belief and use it instead to support a more empowering belief. Soon enough, you'll have empowering table-tops with plenty of legs to support them and a heap of broken wood where your old disempowering table tops have fallen and crumbled away.

In "Awaken the Giant Within", Tony Robbins tells of a story of two brothers, close in age, who grew up with a physically and mentally abusive father. The father was an alcoholic who eventually ended up in prison for various violent crimes. One brother went on to become his father: abusive, violent, drug and alcohol problems and in and out of prison. The other brother fell in love, married, had three great kids and a good career. When asked inidividually why they though they had grown into the people they were they both gave the same answer, "How else could I have turned out after growing up with a father like mine?". Both brothers interpretted the exact same experiences in completely different ways. One used these references to form disempowering beliefs about who he was and how his life would end up. The other used the same references to form empowering beliefs about who he needed to become and why he needed to reject violence and addiction. I found that story quite enlightning.

I hope this helps somehow.

Paul