If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment. (Marcus Aurelius)

 

Throughout your life, other people have told you what to believe, but it’s only their version of the truth.

From the moment you popped out of your mom, your experiences have also taught you what to believe. If you touch a hot burner, it creates pain. Therefore, you learn not to touch hot burners. Someone betrays you and you may believe all people cannot be trusted which, of course, isn’t true.

What follows are 10 reasons to always question your beliefs.

1. If someone is giving you advice, that advice may be wrong. The person advising you may be trying to impress you with their vast knowledge or may simply be mistaken.
2. If someone tells you something they are selling is the best product for you to buy, remember they are hoping to convince you to buy their product.
3. When science tells you they have a theory, remember it’s just a theory based on available data. As more data comes in, the theory is likely to change. Smart scientists will be the first to tell you this.
4. When a guru tells you what you should do, remember it’s just his or her opinion.
5. When someone you respect and admire tells you what to believe, it is just that person’s opinion.
6. Be wary of applying your limited knowledge to all things. Don’t assume because you see a yellow flower that all flowers are yellow. Don’t assume all people are thieves because someone steals from you.
7. If a doctor prescribes a pill, question the wisdom of taking that pill. I’m not saying not to listen to your doctor, but he or she is only human and can make mistakes. Today, doctors love to prescribe pills.
8. If you strive for fame, wealth, and or power, question the real motives behind your drive. You may discover the real reason is that you believe these things will bring you happiness or your ego-driven need for relevance.
9. When the media feeds you “facts” remember those facts may be tainted by bias. If you listen to Fox News or MSNBC, the talking heads through embellishment or omission can lead you to draw wrong conclusions. Always listen to the other side of the story.
10. For eons, human beings have sought answers to the big questions: Why am I here? Where did I come from? What is my purpose? And for eons, people have been coming up with answers to those questions. All theory, every one of them.

So, does all this mean you shouldn’t believe in anything? No, that’s not what I’m proposing. Quite the contrary, but come up with your own truth rather than that of someone else. Then, when you’ve come up with your own truth, don’t try and impose your beliefs on others.

When one person or group of people try and impose their beliefs on others, trouble is soon to follow. Let’s look at some examples.

Alcohol is bad; therefore, we should outlaw its use said the prohibitionists. Laws were passed, and prohibition was enacted. It doesn’t take much of a historian to see the problems with those laws. All because one group of people tried to impose their beliefs on another group of people.

Currently, the exact same thing is happening by outlawing drugs and prostitution. It has never worked to dictate morality on humans. Outlawing drugs and prostitution only serve to drive the demand underground supporting drug cartels, mobsters, and pimps.

Another prime example of imposed beliefs comes when the ideology of one group insists another group follow their belief paradigm.   We get out of that such wonderful historical examples such as the Crusades and the Muslim, Jewish/Christian conflicts we are experiencing today.

Finally, we look at how trying to impose your ideal form of government on others works out. Let’s see now, we have the efforts of the U.S. and its purported democracy imposing itself on the Middle East. One needs little more than the intellect of a rock to see how that’s working. Hmmm, makes you wonder doesn’t it?

If we question our beliefs and educate ourselves so that we think for ourselves instead of allowing others to do our thinking for us, the world would be much better off. That is unless we try and force our beliefs on someone else.

The take away: Always question your beliefs.