What is Personal Religion?

ByMatthew

We all have a Personal Religion (PR).

A PR is the system of beliefs and practices we use feel safe and get what we have.

Our PR is (generally) so powerful that it is hidden to us and cannot see it in everyday consciousness.

I use the word “religion” purposefully because this system is more powerful than a mere structure or system. For the vast majority of us, we are unaware of what makes so many of our decisions and what makes change so difficult.

If you’ve ever wondered why you’ve done something, or made a poor decision or not done something, it’s because of your PR.

*  *  *

We don’t have a PR at birth, it is something installed by care-givers and absorbed from family, peers and society, bit-by-bit, as we age.

Sure, we might choose bits and pieces here and there, but by and large, our PR is not consciously chosen and not meaningfully examined.

But there’s an alternative.

It requires curiosity, bravery and perseverance.

One must be willing to look at your results and compare them with a carefully and authentically chosen set of goals.

Furthermore, we must ask ourselves what one must believe to create those results – and own the truth that we made that.

It’s a combination of looking at our lives and saying: “I made that. How did I do that?”

The next step, the one that requires the (most) bravery is really understanding what you truly want, even if it means change.

It requires you to say: “I really want a, b and c; what must I believe so I will take consistent action towards that?”

Once you have worked that step (and this all takes a lot of work) you need to draw of your deep well of perseverance and take daily action towards what you truly want.

*  *  *

The steps I just described are the “Uncovering” and (the beginnings of) “Creation”

To recreate your PR, you must uncover the existing one.

You must be willing to be “wrong” about fundamental things.

You must be willing to examine beliefs that have kept you safe your entire life.

When you engage in the kind of life-truth-telling you can uncover the beliefs that have 1) held you back and 2) have helped you to be happy and successful.

When you understand, I mean deeply, truly know what you’ve believed to create the results you have thus far, you can choose new beliefs.

Going forward you can consciously choose your beliefs and create a life you truly want.

The alternative is a form of sleep-walking where you just go through the motions and find ways to convince yourself that what you have is what you want, or at the very least, okay.

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