Do our human beliefs create our personal realities?

1. 70

   Emanate Presenceposted 11 years ago

   Do our human beliefs create our personal realities?

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2. 64

   ThompsonPenposted 11 years ago

   I am a firm believer that we all create our own reality. That being said, because I believe that, am I thus forced to create my own reality? Have a forfeited my right to have my destiny predetermined?
   
   I have a great many theories that fall along this topic. Many of them I feel are too complex to simply explain in an answer box - especially if I'm not particularly willing to come off nonsensical.
   
   I think what creates our realities aren't necessarily our beliefs, but it certainly comes into it. After all, our beliefs help to point the way for our programming, whether it is our own personally programming we have designed for ourselves, or social programming. Our realities aren't created in the sense that one can Will bad things not to happen to them, but more in the sense of how we handle things. If I nearly rear-end someone who appeared to slam on their breaks for no reason, I can get mad, and let it put me in a negative mood for my day. Or, I can be glad that I saw that person in time to stop my car, and hope that everyone in their car is alright, or perhaps consider the possibilities as to why the person might have done that. Did a small deer run out in front of them? Did the car in front and in the next lane to them swerve into their lane and I didn't see? Is it a student driver that is still getting to know the testiness of their break peddle?
   
   As a waitress, I have seen people get unreasonably upset about food. I've been screamed at for not carrying more than one plate at a time when bringing food out by a customer. I have been sent into tears on many occasions by customers. And all because of food. And every single time, I just wanted to ask them if it would matter at the end of the night. Would what they ate during their visit to this restaurant matter by the time they went to bed? And I wanted to remind them that they create their reality. They could be horrible to the wait-staff who had brought in extra seating for their 20 extra guests they brought along on top of their booking for only 10, or they can enjoy the fact that they're out with people they care about and breaking bread with them. They can be thankful that they have this option and can enjoy that they can spend as much as they do on a plate of food instead of saving food stamps to feed nine children.
   
   I think to answer your question, yes, I think everything we do, everything that creates us, allows us to create our own individual realities.

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      Emanate Presenceposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Marvelous, insightful writing. I have found great potential for learning and growing in all situations, even or especially the most difficult. If you write a hub on these lines, I would like to read it. Am writing one also on beliefs and realities.

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3. 96

   chef-de-jourposted 11 years ago

   Your question gets the ball rolling in several directions at once! But before we find out just where the ball stops and which court it finds itself in I must first answer with a question. Are these human beliefs related to or rooted in history, mythology, religion or science?
   There is a vast range of human experience which has led to exceptionally strong belief systems - Christianity, Islam, and most religions for example have moral precepts which form realities for practicing religious people today. These belief systems may have their origins in what might be called supernatural/transcendental events which the majority of us may think surreal, in the sense that we cannot hope to understand how they occurred. I may think many religious rituals unreal because they don't make sense for me - I choose not to have them in my framework for everyday living, ie my everyday reality.
   If I say something like ' God will look after me ',  what am I saying about my own sense of self reality? That I owe it to an omnipotent Being who will do with it what He/It chooses?
   
   On the other hand I may be a complete believer in myself, (solipsism). Everything I do is determined by my own sense of reality, the I, and I gain that sense of reality by contributing to society in a plain, materialist fashion. I trade my sense of reality with others, as in a market place, and there's little room for conjecture, debate, speculation on anything other than the here and now, survival in it's brutal form.
   
   As humans we have to make a continual assessment of the tension between belief and reality. Extreme choices can be made and in certain situations the consequences can be dire. If I believe in an afterworld for instance I may want to volunteer as a suicide bomber and become a martyr. If I believe in freedom of personal defence I may want to arm myself to the teeth!! 
   For those individuals in power in various countries their decisions (based on beliefs) can become an overwhelming reality for millions, religious or not.
   
   Personal reality is a tricky term to define or understand. Belief systems can influence it but often stronger cultural conditioning becomes the bedrock for most of our worldly dealings.
   
   Your philosophical question should be examined further in a hub/hubs. There are some good philosophy books around at the moment - not too heavy - and they help you expand your ideas and thoughts. One such title is The Complete Philosophy Files by Stephen Law, a British philosopher.

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4. 63

   Dorothee-Gyposted 11 years ago

   Like the first person answering your question, I'm also convinced that we create our entire life experience by virtue of our beliefs and the thoughts and emotions resulting thereof. The tiny part of reality that we can actually perceive is entirely filtered and categorized subconsciously long before we realize what is going on.
   
   Our beliefs are like polarized glasses, they help us to categorize everything neatly and to only let in what fits into that perceptual framework.
   
   The main problem is that beliefs always seem to be without alternative, they seem to be the only possible way of thinking, but "in reality" they are only thoughts that we habitually think, and they can relatively easily be replaced.
   
   Just try it out yourself. Next time something happens that isn't what you like, ask yourself: what would I have to believe in order to experience that? Once you answered that question (and in my experience, it is always really helpful to do that in writing), ask yourself: Is that what I want to believe? Does it serve me well to believe that?
   
   If your answer is No, then strike through the old belief and write down what you would like to believe instead. Make a little ritual out of it, burn the old belief, strike it through, make it unreadable and adorn the new one. Put it someplace where you can see it for a while as a reminder and trust that now it is what shapes the according reality. Then see what happens.
   
   If the new experience isn't really what you want yet, you can repeat this procedure, because very often, we have many interrelated beliefs around the same subject and while you might have deactivated one, there might still be a bunch of similar beliefs left that keep you in that feedback loop.
   
   In my experience, it has changed countless life situations that were not pleasing to me and helped me to get over many blocks where I felt stuck before.
   
   Good luck,
   Dorothee

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   Renee Abbottposted 11 years ago

   Absolutely. Our beliefs often are going through our head daily as self-talk. Our self-talk backed with forceful emotions running through our veins have created today and will create tomorrow. We can blame everything and everyone in the world for our own personal problems, or take it up a step and blame them for our countries problems, and trust me you have just created your tomorrow.  Peoples beliefs align with what their reality is today.
   
   In the end, we are living in the reality we created, which makes us 100% responsible for what is going on today. Your first reaction to this comment will give you a clear view of what your beliefs are and how they will write your tomorrow.

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