Page 39 - Self Image Mastery - Week-5

THE STRUCTURE OF THE SELF IMAGE 39
For example, if bears live in stone caves, we would probably do well to learn that the very first time, from walking into just one stone cave and getting the scare of our life. If we needed the repetition of multiple exposures before we learned, we may well not be around to make use of our learning.
Emotionalized evaluated experiences can be thought of as beliefs. And we form these beliefs about our self, and the world and everyone in it.
All of these beliefs are important, but the beliefs that make up our Self Image are particularly important to our interactions with the world.
Many of the things we believe, we did not originate. Our Self Image is probably made up of our perception of other people’s opinions of us. And this information was probably internalized by us at an early age, before we could really think for ourselves and decide whether their opinions were valid or just total nonsense.
Our beliefs filter our experience of the world and help us find meaning in life. They also create our emotional world, drive our behavior and end up creating our results.
Where are our beliefs stored?
Because our beliefs are stored in our subconscious minds, they are below our level of awareness and so most of the time, we are not aware of what it is we believe.
Many of the things we believe are poorly, if at all, researched, and if we stopped and thought about it now, we would realize that they don’t stand up to scrutiny. The trouble is, most of us never do stop and challenge our beliefs because we confuse them with reality.
As Emerson said,
EM COMMUNITY