What Do You Believe?

posted 27th April 2010    Written by: Nicole Antoinette    CATEGORY: Nicole Antoinette, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 2, Spirituality

Should religion be a taboo topic? I don’t know, but it is.

Probably because our spiritual beliefs are so intertwined with how we understand ourselves and our world that the line between different and intolerant is wispy and translucent. This line, the line between “I don’t believe what you believe but I accept you” and “I don’t believe what you believe and therefore you’re wrong” is so fine that it often gets swept away in the heat of feeling that what we believe is not just one choice, but the choice.

And I don’t agree with that, with the taboo-ness of it all. Just like I don’t think there’s only one way to love someone, one way to succeed, one way to learn, one way to give back, one way to leave your mark on the world, I don’t think there’s a single way to connect and express your spirituality.

You know what I do believe?

I believe you’re either a good person or you’re not. And if you are, if you treat yourself with respect and you treat other people with respect and you’re kind and compassionate and understanding, if you’re honest and you’re open and you live your life on purpose, then it doesn’t matter. You can go to church (or not), to temple (or not), you can meditate (or not), feel close to God (or not), and we can all still exist together and crash into each other in big and meaningful ways.

I believe that every single person can learn something from every single other person.

I believe in the interconnectedness of it all and think that every cause has an effect and every action a reaction. I believe that you get what you put out there and I believe that there’s an enormous and vibrantly dynamic universal energy and that throughout our lives, doors won’t open for us until we’re ready to walk through them.

I believe in creating your own reality, in taking responsibility for your happiness and not being passive in the flowing current of your life. I believe that there’s a difference between fair and equal, and that things don’t need to be equal to be fair. I believe in the power of creating your own set of beliefs and then living them, really living them, each and every day. I believe we’re not just capable, but powerful, far more electrically powerful than we ever give ourselves credit for.

I believe in giving yourself the credit you deserve.

I believe it’s up to us to lay the groundwork for who we want to be, to camp out in our souls and build and rebuild until the foundation we’ve created fully supports us. I believe in introspective reflection, in celebrating when we’re right and openly admitting when we’re wrong because we, each of us, are wrong all the time.

And I believe that’s how it’s supposed to be, that being wrong and tripping up and falling into the hole is how we learn, how we’re able to test the strength of that foundation we’ve built and fill in the cracks along the way.

photo credit: kevin dooley

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Comments (11)

11 Responses to “What Do You Believe?”

  • Jay Schryer Says:
    April 27th, 2010 at 9:26 am

    Very well said! I love it! I wish more people thought and believed as you do, because then the world would be a better place for all of us.

  • theNawalaTribe Says:
    April 27th, 2010 at 5:39 pm

    i love this post! wise words ;-) thanks for sharing!

  • Lauren Says:
    April 27th, 2010 at 5:51 pm

    This post is fantastic. I couldn't agree more with EVERY word you said. I tried to pick out my favorite sentence, and I just…couldn't.

    I'll settle with this: "I believe we’re not just capable, but powerful, far more electrically powerful than we ever give ourselves credit for."

    You are fantastic!!!

  • Norcross Says:
    April 27th, 2010 at 5:42 pm

    I keep it as simple as possible. There is a god. I'm not it. Anything else is someone else's idea.

  • Aaron Says:
    April 27th, 2010 at 9:02 pm

    I believe you can have Jesus Christ as your savior without having to blindly follow everything the church says. Love, forgiveness and acceptance can go a long way.

  • April Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 6:52 pm

    I believe that I also love this post. I'm actually a very spiritual person, but many of my closest friends are not. And yet, some of the greatest conversations I've ever had about my faith, religion, and spirituality…have been with them. I believe in being a good person and understanding when what's right trumps what's religious. I think the more we understand and challenge our faith, the better and stronger it becomes…no matter what you believe. My sweet Shine calls such religion, Don't be an A-hole. Pretty catchy I think. Great post lady!

  • walk it « How to fly Says:
    April 29th, 2010 at 4:37 pm

    [...] blogs lately on crises and looking into yourself. One of my favorites, more recently, stated that doors open for you when you are ready to walk through them. So, finally on my journey, I’m walking the talk. And I’m not sure if it’s [...]

  • Molly_Hoyne Says:
    April 30th, 2010 at 6:04 pm

    I do believe that there is a power that is higher than each of us individually, but I don't believe that we are "controlled" by whatever it may be. We have individual choice to live with integrity, to be kind, to be giving, to create our own happiness. We have the responsibility to chase our dreams, to tune into our intuition, to live with purpose.

    I just don't think we're the end all, be all.

    Nicole, I LOVE this post. It may be my new favorite of yours, sunshine. Articulate, lush & inspiring. xoxo

  • Emily Jane Says:
    April 30th, 2010 at 6:34 pm

    What a great post. "I believe in creating your own reality, in taking responsibility for your happiness and not being passive in the flowing current of your life." This DEFINES how I try to live my life – I spent too long passively just "waiting" for things to be the way I wanted them to be until one day I woke up and realised I had the power to ACTIVELY shape life the way I wanted it to be. And it's been a tough journey, and full of throwing myself into scary situations, but the only way to do it is to have the courage to push yourself out of your comfort zone. It's too easy to stay confined to it and just wish without actually doing anything, and we all have the power to be an active participant in the shape of our lives.

  • Molly_Hoyne Says:
    April 30th, 2010 at 6:00 pm

    That is a good juicy sentence in a post full of them! Agreed!

  • jess Says:
    May 11th, 2010 at 12:47 am

    wonderful, that you brought so many like-minded people together. It's refreshing to see that this in itself is a shared religion.

    xo,
    jess

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