by Amber Ferreira

Created on: November 07, 2008   Last Updated: November 23, 2008

A person's inner belief system can be defined in a myriad of ways. It can be spiritual or religious, or even better yet, it is the personal perception of one's own reality. What they believe to be true, is. Our thoughts about our own lives has a massive impact on how we've come to view our successes and failures, our goals, and ultimately each other.

I'm certainly no expert, but I've come to find that if you try to practice positive thinking on a daily basis, you tend to be overall, a happier and henceforth, more productive person. You'll start to see the glass as half full, and your cheery disposition will start to rub off on those around you. The reverse is true in consistently negative thinking. You'll become detached, introverted and depressed.

A person's belief system as a whole, unfortunately, stems from the expressed views of those around us: our bosses, our friends, and family members, that girl at the gym...you try to view yourself through other people's eyes instead of doing what's natural: just existing. Setting your own goals and aspirations, and slowly achieving them - for yourself.

If more people tried actively establishing and actually following their own belief systems for their personal lives, goals could be more easily accomplished without the interference of outside negativity. People would be confident in their system, since they themselves established its practice.

Another thing to consider as well, is one's views of themselves. This also has a tremendous effect on how others view you, or what they believe to be true about you, even if it's not. If you THINK you are too shy to do a presentation for example, you're apprehension transcends spoken words, and soon the people around you assume you are too shy for other things also, this is the BELIEF they create in their own reality, based on your BELIEFS about yourself. You can wind up losing valuable life experiences in this damaging process. Beliefs are just that, beliefs. They are not necessarily reality. You'll often find the imperfections you obsess over are not even noticed by others. Take that pressure off your shoulders, and see how much lighter you feel.

Don't let your (well intended although often misguided) beliefs on life, or yourself, interfere with your happiness. You always hold the reins, and a positive belief system can never steer you in the wrong direction.

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