We all know what this is, but did you ever really think about its profound implications in our day to day lives? Let’s see – you take a sugar pill and it works simply because you believe it will. Which begs the question:
What if what you thought was true about yourself really was?
I mean, when you really start to think about that it can become a bit of a mindfuck. For example: You mean if I think I’m a failure I’m really a failure? Or conversely, if I think I’m a winner that makes me one?
How about this: Is how much pain I’m in directly proportional to how much pain I think I’m in? WTF? Could this be true?
Or this: Is my degree of happiness based on how happy I believe myself to be?
Clearly, there are some limits. If you have stage IV cancer you’re probably not going to “believe” it away. But you could certainly control your perception of it.
I think the lesson here is this:
The stories we tell ourselves define who we become.