Understanding our attitudes and beliefs in the context of our true nature

By Charles “Al” Huth

The quality of our existence largely is born from our attitudes and beliefs, and we must reckon with how we came to them. The task of learning who you are may seem endless, depending on the degree of your indoctrinations since childhood, whether they occurred through schooling, parenting or other influential institutions or relationships.

Our attitudes and beliefs directly influence how we direct our energies, and we typically describe and understand ourselves and the outer world in terms of the activities we spend our time on. I am a male, a teacher, a father, a magician and so many more things. But this has little to do with the essence of who I am, where I’ve come from and where I’m going — my purpose.

We may be limited to possibilities for ourselves due to what we have been exposed to — and thus how our beliefs and expectations have been formed. Consequently, our attitudes and beliefs may conflict with the true purpose of our essence, limiting our understanding in a variety of areas. For example, my father loved Chevrolets and was not fond of Fords. Through osmosis, I absorbed and adopted this conclusion. After studying auto mechanics, however, I realized that both Chevrolets and Fords had their own strengths and thus overcame my prejudice.

We can expand our potential to build true knowledge by altering what we spend time focusing on in our daily lives. In short, search for the Truth. Incorporating new experiences into our daily lives inspires our true essence and brings it to life.

To understand the critical difference between our attitudes and beliefs and our essence, first consider what our essence is. Physicists describe everything as a form of energy, and we can visualize our essence as the energy that guides our physical and mental presence. We experience this energy as the drive to achieve what we most desire.

Given that the body and mind are different energies working together in harmony, consider the body as the vehicle that one’s essence uses to create what it desires. One way our essence creates what it desires is by using the body to communicate with words, enabling us to teach and understand one another.

Now consider some words to describe the nonphysical aspect of a person: spirit, entity, child of God, energy form. Ultimately, agreeing on the best name for the human essence is not as important as forming an internalized concept of our true existence.

For me, the words spirit and entity feel comfortable; I think of myself as a spiritual entity that uses my body to facilitate harmonious contributions to life. Though my entity exists distinctly and independently, it maintains a relationship with all other energies. It is invisible, yet it affects and is affected by the world around me. It is my internal guidance system.

Migrating birds do not read maps or listen to weather reports. They have an internal connection to what they need to know. We humans have our own built-in guidance system, provided by our essence, and our essence expresses itself through our conscience: When something troubles us, our stomach can get upset. When making decisions, increased muscle tension might alert us to consider different choices. There is an ongoing conversation in our minds, an internal dialogue.

Here are some considerations to help you distinguish between your attitudes and beliefs and the desires of your true essence:

• Do you have attitudes and beliefs that conflict with modern science? If your answer is yes, what contradiction is at the center of the conflict and how might you resolve it?

• Are your attitudes and beliefs in conflict with what you can see and cannot see? What words and expressions would better relate what your essence is trying to tell you? How can you learn to trust your internal guidance system as your default source of information?

• How can thinking of yourself and all fellow humans as energy forms help you to understand the beauty and power of your uniqueness?

Your essence is a spiritual entity. Although invisible, your energetic existence has a unique, purposeful function with unrevealed possibilities.

Charles “Al” Huth, M.Ed., is the author of five books and numerous articles. He lives in the Rogue Valley and is an inspirational speaker, teacher and magician. His websites are: Lighthouse-Empowerment.com and [email protected].

Want to contribute? Send 600- to 700-word articles on all aspects of inner peace to Richard Carey ([email protected]).