My Manifesto

I was writing the other night on the subject of personal beliefs and how they influence and impact our daily lives yet we rarely truly consider what they are.  I stopped and started writing a list of my own beliefs and have made a manifesto to contain them. I hope that I embody these beliefs, I hope to be remembered for them and I hope I will alter them when and if they need to be updated.

When is the last time you considered the beliefs that shape your values and views of the world?

If it has been a while rest assured you are in good company. I can safely assume that if you ask most people they do not have a ready list of their beliefs and likely not a written collection. Yet, I think it is a revealing and valuable exercise to invest in.

Most of us have many underlying beliefs about ourselves and the world that we simply take for granted. They have always been there and we do not often think about if they are true or valid or where we even got the ideas in the first place.

Sometimes these beliefs are steadfast comforting guides, keys to our behavior that help us to navigate the world successfully.

But just as often these beliefs can undermine and limit us or our experience of life and cause us grief, guilt and suffering.

I encourage you to examine your own beliefs both about who you are how you live and what you think about others and the world. While you are doing this determine if these are true for you and if they serve to make you more or less happy and successful.

Give yourself the freedom and power to challenge yourself and fully embrace what you believe to be true or let go of what you do not to make your own Manifesto.

I would love to see it!

I have included mine below

My Manifesto

• I believe that a core of real self acceptance and genuine confidence is the foundation of happiness and success.
• I believe the rampant lack of this is the root of most suffering, sadness, violence, dissatisfaction and mediocrity.
• I believe and embrace that all of life’s experiences are a valid opportunity to experience fully what is available to me. I also accept that it is perfectly ok that I am not always happy about that experience at the time   it occurs but know I will eventually grow and become more because of it whether I like it or not.
• I believe life is good but not only good things happen
• I believe things that are difficult and horrific are part of life and not necessarily a result of bad karma or a failing on someone’s part.
• I believe that whatever happens in life is an opportunity to be more. That it often matters little the result or whether we win but how we showed up in the game
• I believe bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people sometimes.
• I believe that we all get to define what is good or bad in our lives for ourselves
• I believe everyone is created equal in worth and value yet completely unique and individual
• I believe that worth and value are intrinsic
• I believe humans are special in the world
• I believe and understand that we are not all given the same playing field or equipment to play with: that is life, it is not fair but it is good.
• I believe we all have the right to choose what we believe as well as how we want to think, behave and live and we should cherish and protect that freedom for all
• I believe that with freedom comes responsibility first to ourselves and then to everyone else
• I believe I am whole, complete and capable even when it appears or feels otherwise
• I believe that life is a treasure with more beauty and wonder than we can ever experience in just one lifetime but that we should give it a good shot
• I believe more in using things up then in saving them
• I believe less rules are better, at least for me
• I believe love is not always enough
• I think we typically make things much harder than we need to
• I believe we miss a whole lot of pleasure because we are so concerned with not feeling pain
• I believe people, the world and especially God are much bigger and more complex than we can ever hope to fully understand or define and I like it that way.
• I believe the world and everything in it is far to miraculous not to believe in a creative God. Brilliant!
• I believe we are a complex beautiful mixture of everything and can choose to express anything at anytime with mastery. Not all good, all bad, all nice, all evil etc. All things all the time even if it isn’t showing at the moment or we have more or less of it, it is in there.
• I believe that people have the power to change themselves and their lives dramatically at any time if they chose
• I believe life is about becoming more of yourself rather than becoming more of something or someone else
• I believe there are many versions of right and no one has to be wrong for me to be right, but they usually are:)
• I believe we take too many things too seriously and focus too little on what truly matters to us
• I believe I am here to make a difference and have an impact
• I believe I already have
• I believe there is much more of me and you to share and I hope we will have the courage, confidence and time to share it fully.