Hi Teens:
Some of your most important beliefs are ‘global beliefs.’
Global beliefs are beliefs that have to do with the world, life, society and people in general.
You may have heard comments like, ‘I won’t do that – people won’t like it!’ or, ‘People are mean,’ or, ‘People can’t be trusted.’
Maybe the people making these comments just haven’t met any nice people, or are only paying attention to the ‘mean’ people?
How often have you heard people say things like, ‘The world is a bad place’?
That many people truly think that comes as no surprise. All you have to do is turn on the TV or radio and the news will tell you in detail about all the negative events in the world: robberies, fires, car crashes, war, etc. Rarely do we hear a positive message of what people are doing to help each other.
A common reaction to the news is to develop fear and mistrust for people and the world, because all you see and hear in the media is negativity.
Another generalization lots of folks make has to do with ‘life.’ ‘Life is hard’, ‘All good things have to come to an end’, ‘The odds are against you’, etc.
Please take a few minutes to write down your beliefs about people, life and the world or comments you’ve heard people make about these things.
Are the majority of your global beliefs positive or negative? Where did they come from? Do you find yourself being affected by the news and other people’s negativity? How do your beliefs affect the decisions you make? Do they keep you from opening up to people? Do they keep you from taken certain actions because you are afraid of what people will say, or afraid that something bad is going to happen?
What is the belief costing you? What would
change if you were to let go of the belief?
Try to seek out shows and news that portray people helping one another. Do avoid watching the news as much as you can. Sure, it’s good to know what’s going on the
world, but keep in mind the news doesn’t really tell you what’s going on. The news portrays the worst of humanity, because that’s what gets people watching. The goal of newscasts is to make money – the more people that watch, the better ratings the newscasts get. However, it’s important to realize that you don’t have to make the worst events that happen every day part of your life all the time!
Again, just like with your ‘self beliefs’, it’s extremely valuable for you to become aware of the ‘global beliefs’ you have, and how the ‘global beliefs’ of others influence your thinking.
Looking at yourself and the world continually
in a negative way will bring you down. When
you feel down you aren’t going to enjoy things in your life as much and you close yourself off to seeing more of the positive in yourself and the world.
“The universe is transformation; our life is what our thoughts make it.”
Marcus Aurelius