They can either be the basis for both empowering and limiting beliefs. And it's the latter that I'm going to talk about now.
Limiting beliefs are thoughts and interpretations that you take for granted and that somehow prevent you from having a better life, having more harmonious relationships, and even more health and prosperity.
There are several ways to acquire a limiting belief and popular sayings are a strong channel of transmission of these beliefs from generation to generation.
Think of all the popular sayings you know that you even repeat often.
“Son of fish, fish is!”: Is it really that you are exactly like your parents? How does believing this help you and what does it hinder you?
Regardless of whether you classify your parents as good or bad role models, believing that you are exactly how they influence your decisions, choices and behaviors. It can often prevent you from expressing your authenticity and living life the way you would like.
“Easy comes, easy goes!”: Here, the maxim is simple, value hard work, sacrifice and dedication.
The final message can even be positive, but if you really believe that what comes easy goes easy, not only will you have a much more painful life, but you will also not know how to value and maintain the things that can come to you easily.
Did you know that most winners of prizes such as lotteries and sweepstakes end up somehow losing what they won?
In these cases it is not the facts that reinforce the belief, but the belief that creates the facts..
“A stick that is born crooked never straightens!”: Is it really that people cannot change? Become better human beings, learning and flourishing, leaving behind any habits or behaviors that negatively impacted their lives?
To believe in this is to feed hopelessness regarding the transformations and overcomings of others and hinder our own transformation process., instilling in himself the belief that change is difficult and that perhaps there is no point in trying.
One of my least favorite sayings is the “blacksmith's house, wooden stick”, but I'll talk about it in the next text.
What beliefs are you passing on?
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