By Wongi

While you were merely primordial baby batter in your father's testicles and hardly an egg in your mother's uterus others were busy deciding on your behalf. Before you ever breathed most were already predetermined for you. In fact your whole life including what God to worship, what to be when you grow up, the sports you would play, all of them were impressed on you before you were even conscious enough to decide. 

You've been taught to believe in Santa Clause and the tooth fairy. That drugs are bad (unless prescribed) and so are the Soviets, Arabs and Chinese. That 'Merica the great and till death do us part. They have convinced you that some Gods are good and some are bad.  Good grades will lead you to a good job and a good job will make you rich. Then you can be happy.

Next? Marriage. A wife or husband. Perhaps a house. A child. Eventually...retirement. It's the same story being repeated passed down from generation to generation through common and shared beliefs. 

Except the devil in the details is that none of it is true and hardly any of it is working. Most parents? Divorced. Retirees? Broke. Most kids? Disconnected. Why should it be any different?  Remember how disappointed you were when you found out Santa wasn't real? That it was all just a story. Made up by society about how things work.

For many ages it was superstitious forces that did the work. Now science explains life phenomenon. But the techniques are the same. Beliefs are presented as truths.

In today's digital age we're so rapidly and repetitively inundated with the opinions of others that we fail to formulate our own. Some estimate we are subjected as to as many as 5,000 ads per day, nearly 1 million by the time we're 18. 

Let's perform an experiment. List your beliefs. Write them down. Then see if you can identify the source. Often people write mindlessness like, "I believe in God." Ok. Which one? And what about he/she? Don't tell me something you heard in a church or read in a book. That is just somebody else's opinion. Say something true. Not from the head but from the heart. Go deeper than thinking. What about God do you really believe? 

Start with simple stuff. Describe to me God's appearance. What is their demeanor? How do they sit or stand? Do they hug or shake hands when they first meet someone? Where does God sleep? On a mattress? Tempurpedic? Stupid question. Obviously God sleeps on clouds. After all he lives in the sky...

 It's laughable but our species has always personified Gods. Even though none of us has ever met he/she. Each religion, belief system, has their own conception on God's appearance and position. If you grew up in your neighbors house that happened to be of a different religion, would your God not resemble theirs? So what has changed? God? Or your beliefs? God is a good example of just how corrupted our minds are. 

The trouble with beliefs is that they are only opinions. Perspectives. Those with the strongest beliefs generally have the narrowest perspectives. Ever meet people that were closed minded? Infuriating. This is what happens to individuals in cults or religious fanaticism. It is extreme belief. 

For them ignorance is bliss but usually ends in disaster. But at least they go in all the way. Most people barely dip their toes into life. So their whole life is a disaster.  A disaster is something that causes suffering or loss of life. Doesn't this sound familiar? Ups and downs. Frustration. Disappointment. Never any grounding. Never perpetual growth or evolution. 

How can you expect to blossom when there are no roots? Your beliefs are not even yours! They are only surface deep. They barely puncture the top soil. So when winds of change or turbulent times blow by, your trunk, your core, the center of your being cannot be steady. How can it be resolute and definitive in the face of adversity with fictitious foundation? That is why so many people are angry, or sad, stressed and depressed. Or occasionally happy or inspired until temporary motivation eventually evaporates.

They go to a workshop or a seminar and you're pumped for a week. This is just watering. More beliefs of other people. No amount of water will get those roots to grow deeper. But you keep watering. Sometimes you even find fruit. So you think that your beliefs are working. Now you're committed. Investing more and more time and resources to crop a larger yield. Until your investment isn't paying off. So you look for a new garden. New job. New city. New wife. You plant new seeds. Maybe even an entirely new belief system! But still with no roots. Still other people's ideas. Eventually catastrophe strikes. The cycle is repeated. 

Before farming you must till and tend to the soil. Remove the old roots. Discard them completely. Keep digging until there is just empty space. A hole. Be empty of old ideas and beliefs. Only then you can become a nursery for life and growth. Otherwise you will always have stunted growth. Limited potential. Don't allow any preconceptions or expectations. Just observe. Life will fill the hole. You don't have to plant the seed or do anything. Did man plant the Amazon? It will happen on it's own. Just be present the entire time, observing and experiencing as the seed takes root, blossoms and fruits. 

If you cling to your beliefs closely and the conditioning is very deep do not try to destroy your beliefs. Instead go into them deeper. Examine your religion, education, culture, desires and other ideas closer. Be unattached. See. Learn more if you're inclined. But don't accept other people's word as gospel. Create your own book of wisdom. Based on a true story. Your story. 

Live for an hour, day, week or year with no beliefs. Imagine? No days of the week, time on the clock or clothes to wear. Free yourself from others opinions and their influence over you. You owe it to yourself. You are truth. You are free to choose. 

We believe in you. Not your beliefs or opinions. But the Human being that you are and can be. 

In appreciation of Lazaretto, new album by Jack White. Tell 'em Jack.

 Exercise in Freedom:

This exercise is adapted from Tim Ferris's bestselling book and series 'The 4 Hour Work Week.' The next time you're in a very public area. Let's say the airport, busy coffee shop or department store. Sit or lay on the floor, close your eyes and meditate for three minutes. Feel the observers watch you act unusually.  This will help you lose your fear of judgement and get comfortable with other peoples beliefs about you.