The word “believe” ranges in definition from simply holding a firm conviction in an idea all the way to maintaining a deep-seated religious conviction. The word “belief” defines the actual truth or tenant that an individual places so much stock or faith into.
Beliefs are found in all walks of human existence. There are beliefs regarding health practices and the way to live your life. There are beliefs that dictate religion and politics. There are beliefs about the events of natural order and beliefs that govern the sciences and other paths of logical thought. Human existence is structured rather firmly around the concept of holding a belief structure.
These structures can come in different shapes, sizes as well generational ranges. Some belief structures are actually a lack of belief – humans have a profound need to believe, so sustaining a lack of belief is still a belief. It is simply a belief in non-belief.
Other structures are more like guidelines and ideas, rather than firm beliefs. I feel it’s easier to change and mold an idea rather than a belief. Beliefs can feel the influential touch of society. They can be swayed by culture, geographic location and those most close to you – specifically, family and friends.
We as humans have a unique habit of letting our beliefs shape who we are, instead of letting who we are shape our beliefs.
The nature of the belief is a unique human experience. Our mental abilities are so impressive that we can develop rich, compelling concepts regarding every notion of life. We have belief structures and ideal formations formatted for every life situation.
And the complexity just furthers from there. We develop alternates and different routes to follow within certain paradigms of belief. For example, as far as politics is concerned we demonstrate numerous different political parties. Each one offers their own individual ideals and belief structures.
Beliefs are both beautiful and dangerous. They are beautiful in that they provide a wonderful testament to the strength and imagination of the human psyche. They demonstrate the vast creative capabilities of the human mind.
They stand testament to the evolution, or lack of, of human thought processes. An ever-changing and compelling development, the human psyche has managed to develop explanatory belief structures for years.
On the dangerous side, humans can become violently defensive of their ideas and beliefs. Whether these are political ideals or religious beliefs, certain individuals feel the need to defend them with wars and excessive violence. Differences in beliefs can also cause strife between families and friends.
We feel it so necessary to defend the intangible that we put our lives on the line for it. We become so entangled in trying to defend our beliefs and ideals as the true belief that we forget the simple beauty of being able to have such beliefs.
We waste so much time and energy focusing on attempting to discover some form of essential truth amongst the mosaic of human belief. We lose sight of the simple blessing it is to be able to conceive of beliefs.
Fighting over differing beliefs is a vicious circle with no end in sight. The beauty of the mosaic of human belief is that it will always be different. We as humans are each individuals and that entitles us to individual sets of ideals and beliefs.
Let us not pit each belief against another, but instead celebrate the facts that as humans we hold the capacity to sustain such complex, individual beliefs.
