In his wonderful book, Anatomy of an Illness, Norman Cousins tells an instructive story about Pablo Casals, one of the great musicians of the twentieth century. It’s a story of belief and renewal and we can all learn from it.
Cousins describes meeting Casals shortly before the great cellists ninetieth birthday. Cousins says that it was almost painful to watch the old man as he began his day. His frailty and arthritis were so debilitating that he needed help in dressing. He walked with a shuffle, stooped over, his head pitched forward. His hands were swollen, his fingers clenched. He looked like a very old, very tired man.
Even before eating, he made his way to the piano, with great difficulty, he arranged himself on the piano bench. It seemed a terrible effort for him to bring his clenched, swollen fingers to the keyboard.
And then something quite miraculous happened. Casals suddenly and completely transformed himself before Cousin’s eyes. He went into a resourceful state, and as he did, his physiology changed to such a degree that he began to move and play, producing both in his body and on the piano results that should have been possible only for a healthy, strong, flexible pianist. As Cousins put it,” the fingers slowly unlocked and reached toward the keys like the buds of a plant toward the sunlight. His back straightened. He seemed to breathe more freely.” The very thought of playing the piano totally changed the state and thus the effectiveness of his body. It was no longer stiff and shrunken but supple and graceful and completely freed of its arthritic coils.” By the time he walked away from the piano he seemed entirely different from the person who sat down to play. He stood straighter and taller; he walked without a trace of a shuffle.
We usually think of beliefs in terms of creeds or doctrines, and that’s what many beliefs are. But in the most basic sense, a belief is any guiding principle, faith, passion that can provide meaning and direction in life. Beliefs are like commanders of the brain. When we believe something is true, it is like delivering a command to our brain as to how to represent what is occurring. Casals believed in music and in art. That’s what had given beauty and order and nobility to his life, and that’s what could still provide daily miracles for him. Because he believed in the transcendent power of his art, he was empowered in a way that almost defies understanding. His beliefs transformed him daily from a tired old man to a vital genius. In the most profound sense, they kept him alive.
John Stuart Mill once wrote,” One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests.” That’s precisely why beliefs open the door to excellence. Belief delivers a direct command to your nervous system. When you believe something is true, you literally go into the state of its being true. Handled effectively, beliefs can be the most powerful forces for creating good in your life. On the other hand, beliefs that limit your actions and thoughts can be as devastating as resourceful beliefs can be empowering.
Beliefs are the compass and maps that guide us toward our goals and give us the surety to know we’ll get there. Without beliefs or the ability to tap into them, people can be totally disempowered. They’re like a motorboat without a motor or rudder. With powerful guiding beliefs, you have the power to take action and create the world you want to live in. beliefs help you see what you want and energize you to get it.
In fact, there’s no more powerful directing force in human behavior than belief. In essence, human history is the history of human belief. The people who have changed history- whether Christ, Mohammed, Copernicus, Colombus, Edison or Einstein- have been the people who have changed our beliefs. To change our own behaviors, we have to start with our own beliefs. If we want to model excellence, we need to learn to model the beliefs of those who achieve excellence.
The more we learn about human behavior, the more we learn about the extraordinary power that beliefs have over our lives. In many ways, that power defies the logical models most of us have. But it’s clear that even at the level of physiology, beliefs control reality. A remarkable study was done on schizophrenia not long ago. One case involved a woman with a split personality. Normally, her blood sugar levels were completely normal. But when she believed she was a diabetic, her whole physiology changed to become that of a diabetic. Her belief had become her reality.
Most of us are aware of the placebo effect. People who are told a drug will have a certain effect will many times experience that effect even when given an empty pill with no active properties.
“Drugs are not always necessary. Belief in recovery always is.”
Belief is nothing but a state, an internal representation that governs behavior. It can be an empowering belief in possibility – a belief that we will succeed in something or achieve something else. It can be a dis-empowering belief- a belief that we can’t succeed, that our limitations are clear, intractable, and over-whelming. If you believe in success, you’ll be empowered to achieve it. If you believe in failure, those messages will tend to lead you to experience that as well. Remember, whether you think you can do or you can’t, you’re right. Both kinds of beliefs have great power. The question is what kinds of beliefs are best to have, and how do we develop them?
The birth of excellence begins with our awareness that our beliefs are a choice. We usually don’t think of it that way, but belief can be a conscious choice. You can choose beliefs that limit you, or you can choose beliefs that supports you. The trick is to choose the beliefs that are conducive to success and the results you want and to discard the ones that hold you back.
“They can because they think they can.” – Virgil
Life is both subtler and more complex than some of us like to believe. So if you haven’t done so already, review your beliefs and decide which ones you might change now and what you would change those beliefs to.
Your reality is the reality you create. If you have positive internal representations or beliefs, it’s because that’s what you have created. If you have negative ones, you’ve created them too. So what are beliefs?
Our beliefs are specific, consistent organizational approaches to perception. They are the fundamental choices we make about how to perceive our lives and thus how to live them.
The world we live in is the world we choose to live in, whether consciously or unconsciously. If we choose bliss, that’s what we get. If we choose misery, we get that too.
So choose your beliefs wisely.
Thank you,
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