Journal On Purpose to Wonder

What do I believe?

Writing about behavior patterns illuminates the beliefs driving them.

We all have beliefs nestled in our subconscious formed from experiences. Licking a subway handrail early in life might have something to do with why you wear oven mitts during your commute, for instance. The fact that the germs were large enough to taste could birth an instant certainty that the subway is gross, or become a lifelong aversion to all underground transportation, or overall anxiety about touching anything that hasn’t been boiled. 

Stuff happens, we create beliefs around it, and then we stand on those beliefs and make every decision for the rest of our lives. The toddler burned by a hot stove grows into an adult who only eats things that can be mixed with water and sipped through a straw. A teen who crashes their bike believes firmly ever after that the world is terrifying and so skydives nude as an adult, railing against fear and underwear both.

If you are repeating behaviors over and over there is a belief driving them, and writing is a great way to ask yourself, what do I believe?  Do I believe I am incapable of making decisions and therefore procrastinate? Does my desperate meandering from one dysfunctional relationship to another look, from a distance, like I love and value myself? What’s underneath my need to do everything perfectly? Do I feel judged and broken? Use your writing to wonder about these beliefs, and you don’t need to visit their birthplace to feel the answers resonate with you. Wonder, and bring these beliefs out of the shadows so you can see them in the light and decide if they are serving you. But please, don’t lick anything on the subway.