Belief is a very powerful thing. It inspires people to great feats of love and hate, good and evil. Yet the very word itself implies that whatever actions you are taking, you are taking for an idea or a premise you cannot be certain about. Despite lacking indisputable proof about a great many things we function in our daily life with a very elaborate and complicated belief system running the show. We couldn't live without our beliefs. To each one of us they are more than a feeling, thought or a superstition. They are who we are.
In a way they are soft truths that we hold the way we also hold hard truth. We do this due to many factors such as a lack of desire, ability or time to know that undisputed truth. Sometimes we can't know... it's beyond our comprehension. Sometimes we don't want to know and often we just don't have the time to discover what that truth is. Life is too short to know everything. Frankly, most of us (myself included) actually know very little. There's nothing wrong with that until you start to believe you know more than everyone else. That's when your beliefs become more than that.
It can get us into trouble. I believe that in the history of humankind more people have died for their beliefs than for any other reason. We believe in different gods, different morals, different ways to express ourselves and that's just the beginning. When you look at it from the big picture, it's astonishing. There are billions of people on this planet and most of us can't agree despite having the same basic needs and so many similarities. We are complex creatures, I understand that. But why do people have to die for what they believe? People have been killing one another over beliefs since the beginning of humans and it still goes on today. Have we learned nothing? Will it ever end?
Some people believe so purely, so deeply that they hold that idea as their own personal truth. They won't waiver and they don't want to hear a counter argument. They might even get offended if you or I referred to it as their "beliefs". When it's something they KNOW despite lacking the prerequisite proof to substantiate their ideas into facts, it can be tough on other people. They'll say, "I don't believe, I know". That must be nice.
Now I don't care what your personal truths are. Believe in what you want to and enjoy. But when personal truths are extended outside of the person who creates them, I think it's best to realize they are beliefs again. Why is that? I may not believe you what believe. If I do, that's great and if we disagree, that's great too. Our uniqueness is what makes us so wonderful and beautiful. Let's be respectful of each others ideas and beliefs despite how emphatically we view our own inside our hearts and minds.
As you might be able to tell, I'm a natural skeptic. I think things through a lot. I plan and I anticipate. I don't trust easily and I'm always asking questions. But I do try to maintain an open mind about most things. I try to be respectful if I don't agree and often times if you feel strongly about something I don't feel that way about or don't understand I will ask you about it because it's important to you. Knowledge comes from external forces and I won't learn much if I stay inside my head all day. Besides, I really want to believe in so many things that other people do and find solace, enjoyment and contentment in but I'm always questioning. I might have taken one too many philosophy courses in college. So unfortunately I believe in very little although I am hopeful about a whole lot of stuff. I believe I'd call that wanting to believe, just not quite there yet.
To me belief is all about trust. It's all about your confidence in something. I think it applies to people as much as philosophy and ideas. I think love can be a belief. You can't ever know someone completely, you just can't. Many people might say they don't even completely know themselves. This explains why many relationships break down over time. You think you know someone but then you find out something about them, they stop pretending to be what you want or they change unexpectedly and now the trust starts to evaporate along with that belief. It's why I don't give my heart away easily. I really have to get to know someone first.
Love is a leap of faith. I say that a lot. You gather quite a bit of information on someone through dates, hanging out, or some type of interaction and then you reach a point where you feel good enough about the person to make the leap. You take a chance. It's a gamble and the rewards are greater than the risks. Sure a broken heart sucks, but it goes away after a period of time. A lifelong romance lasts, well a lifetime. It can't happen without believing and trusting in someone.
Speaking of which, is there anything better than believing in someone and then they confirm why you trusted in them? You feel a level of satisfaction with yourself for taking a risk, even if it's a small one, and then being proved right. But more than that you feel enormous joy for that person you believed in who accomplished something wonderful. Now that's something we can all believe in.
I say whatever you want to believe in, whoever you want to trust, go for it. Have fun, but be careful, respectful and thoughtful. Between you and me, I say if you really want to believe in something real, believe in yourself.
"For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible." – Stuart Chase
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