You Are Superstitious, Believe it or Not!

Which is worse?
Knowing that you don’t know something (ignorance)?
Or thinking you know something that isn’t true?

We have a word for the second phenomenon.
It’s called superstition.
Of course, the people who believe in a superstition
don’t think it is a superstition.
They believe it is the truth!

But do you ever wonder about your own superstitions
that you don’t even know are superstitions?
Of course, if you knew (or suspected) they were superstitions,
they wouldn’t be superstitions anymore!


Consider the idea that all of us believe
some everyday superstitions.
These superstitions are the assumptions
that we automatically make,
while not knowing they are assumptions.

If you know an assumption is an assumption,
then you will have a lot more power
in dealing with it if it turns out to be false.

But if you think an assumption is the truth,
your eyes will not be looking for new knowledge 
and new possibilities.

If you think an assumption is the truth,
you will be upset either with yourself
or with others when things don’t turn out
the way they should.

Ask yourself these questions,
“Do I really know how my boss will respond
if I ask for a raise?”
“Do I really know what makes my husband
feel respected and admired?”
“Do I really know what makes my wife/girlfriend
feel safe and adored?”
“Do I really know what jobs might be available to me
if I go looking for them?”
“Do I really know how that person I’m upset with
will respond if I let them know about my anger
in a non-blaming way?”
“Do I really know how that man/woman will respond
if I let them know that I like them a lot?”

“Do I really know how magnificent my life would be
if I took a bold stand for how great a life I am having?”
“Do I really know what I could discover
if I became a true searcher?”
“Do I really know what the responses would be
if I said ‘no’ to what I didn’t want?”

If you look carefully, you may see that, 
in many of these cases, you think you know already.
But do you have solid evidence for what you know?
Mostly, we don’t.
Sometimes, when we examine the evidence,
we will find that it supports the opposite of what we know.

If we look closely, we will see that we have
very little evidence for what we believe.
And most of what we believe is designed
to keep us feeling safe (at least, in the moment).

It is a choice of courage
to discover and question our assumptions.

Discover and identify for yourself right now
at least three assumptions you have been making
that previously you knew were the truth.

I invite you to choose the courage
to discover and unfold your assumptions,
so that you can clearly see them as assumptions,
not as facts.

?