BELIEF.
[bih-leef] noun
Something believed; an opinion or conviction.
Confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.
Something that is accepted, considered to be true, or held as an opinion.
Belief… the urge to support a cause, person, religion, or movement that aligns with your values, the cognitive tendency to take a side on an issue, the personal attitudes associated with true or false concepts, the fuel that powers you toward high achievement.
We all believe in something, whether that be a higher power, a celebrity, a dream or even a close friend or family member. If you’re an athlete you tend to believe in your sports team, if you’re a Christian you tend to believe in God, if you’re a mom you tend to believe in your child, and the list goes on. Now what comes along with that belief? Undeniable support, challenges to make one better, tough love, gloating and sometimes idolization. Your peers can easily associate you with your beliefs because you make it known on social media. During times of adversity you are willing to stand up and fight for that belief. If someone criticizes Beyonce, expect to catch hell from the Bey-hive. If an Alabama fans belittles a Georgia fan, trust me, the Dawgs are coming. When a person bad-mouths your political representative, oh then you’re mad MAD. Think about it, a simple belief in someone or something ELSE has the power to remodel our character and change our daily behaviors. However… do we even believe in ourselves? All of that energy that is utilized to support, challenge, love, uplift, and protect other people fails to be reciprocated back to ourselves.
When the circumstances are flipped and all of those situations involve you believing in yourself, how do you respond? Do you support yourself? Do you challenge yourself? You may believe in a particular dream, but do you believe that you can actually obtain that dream? Are you proud of your successes and comfortable speaking of your accomplishments? During catastrophe do you stand up for yourself like you would stick up for a peer? If you couldn’t genuinely answer yes to all these questions, then Houston we have a problem. This problem stems from lack of confidence, which also stems from mental strength. What many fail to realize is that your mind can either take you far or force you to be stagnate for long periods of time. Your mind controls the outcome of things, your perception of situations, how you carry yourself, decisions you make and your overall behavior. If you’re mentally strong your mind is automatically programmed to see the glass half full vs. half empty. If you had two completely different people endure the same situation, you would be surprised that they beared the same hardship, because of their mind. Their overall perception will emulate two completely different circumstances. One person will think the world is over and the other will move on and learn from the experience. We should strive for mental strength everyday to aim for a consistent, positive perception.
Once you have mastered mind control, your next goal should be self-confidence. This will determine how you allow others to treat you, your self-esteem, the risks you take, and the overall value you put on yourself. If you believe in yourself, you will automatically attract people with similar goals as you, as well as people that know your worth. If you tend to attract the wrong type of people, it may be because you fail to know your worth. When you have the opportunity to take chances, if you’re secure in your abilities, you will be bold in your actions. This will in turn give you the courage to be a natural risk-taker. When you have confidence in your appearance and you grow to accept your flaws, you don’t have to look a certain way for anyone. No makeup, no outfit, no hairstyle can ultimately determine your worth. No need to fix what God already put his paintbrush on right? So we must come to accept our strengths, weaknesses, flaws, and all of our unique characteristics that separate us from the next person. Embrace your uniqueness! What differentiates food brands from one another? Their recipe! Once we accept our “recipe”, we can boldly walk in our purpose.
We must believe in ourselves before we rally behind the outside world. Don’t be too occupied with someone else, that you forget to tend to your own issues and self-care. The inability to believe in yourself be can frustrating, humiliating, uncomfortable, and troublesome in the long run. God doesn’t want his children to live in self doubt. He created us to be ACHIEVERS and we can never achieve if we don’t believe in our God-given abilities and gifts. Always remember, you must have something to give something. You can’t poor from an empty glass. Therefore, in order to care for or believe in someone else, you must believe in you first.
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”