Everyone believes in something.  The mind seems to depend on it.  The “something” isn’t as important as the belief.  The sun rising, a future bowel movement, love, god, suffering – people are believers.  But so many major beliefs are born like second had shoes.  They’re passed down from parents or teachers or books.  The soles are worn.  The inside is broken-in for someone else’s odd shaped foot.  We wear them anyway, uncomfortably.

These ill-fitting beliefs are accepted.  Some people plod along until the shoe molds to their foot. Some learn to accept the discomfort.  And then there are those who pry the shoes off.  It happens with religion constantly.  There are children who will live their entire lives clenching to mommy and daddy’s belief system.  There are children who believe only as a way of avoiding confrontation.  Then, there are some who stop believing, or evolve in their beliefs.

I don’t think the source matters.  What interests me is what people do with these beliefs.  Some are able to use belief as a tool.  That could mean reading the book “The Secret,” and believing in the laws of attraction.  It could mean performing Chaos Magic; accepting Hassan I. Sabbah’s idea that “Nothing is true.  Everything is permitted,” in hopes of overcome the self-imposed obstacles created by generations and generations of secondhand beliefs.

Beliefs help frame reality.  Believing that the sun will rise tomorrow gives you assurance to close your eyes tonight.  Believing in god or heaven helps some people cope with the fear of death.  Belief is one of the few factors strong enough to make a sweaty suicide bomber walk into a crowded mosque and hit the button.  (Methamphetamines are another factor.) 

Flaccid beliefs are plentiful.  Half-hearted, limp-wristed, bullshit attempts at belief.  A true belief doesn’t have doubts.  Not eight percent, not ninety-nine percent – all or nothing.  That doesn’t mean a belief is permanent.  New information can alter anything.  People didn’t believe they could break the four minute mile, until someone broke the four minute mile.  Whole-hearted beliefs are powerful.  More than anything, they seem to clear a path.

Will I believe any of this tomorrow?  Who knows?  Maybe I need to experiment with my own half-assed belief system.  This potent concept conflicts with my own rationality.  I paid too much attention in science class.  I do, however, believe that the mind is a powerful force.  I’ve seen it in action, in myself, in strangers.  The real question, I suppose, is; how closely entangled are belief and reality?