Belief can be summed up briefly as a repetitive thought, mental acceptance or faith in the truth or reality of an idea, situation or person in your mind. Confusion frequently develops between the words believe and belief, when these two words are used in a sentence or an article. Many people are unaware of the distinctions between them.

Believe is a verb that means to accept something as true or to trust something, especially when there is no exact certainty. The verb “believe” has a noun form called “belief”, which refers to a person’s improvable thoughts or mental acceptance of a thing as probable truth.

So whatever a person thinks, feels and believes, so will be the condition of his mind and body, and the circumstances turn out in that way. Your mind is your greatest ally and enemy at the same time. Many people don’t succeed because of the beliefs that they develop. Whatever you accept and feel to be true long enough will turn into your world. It implies that whatever you subliminally feel to be true in your inner world (thoughts) for sufficiently long, will consistently appear in your external world (experience).

For example, a magnetised piece of iron will lift about 12 times its weight. But if you demagnetise this same iron, it will not lift even a feather. In the same way, there are two types of people. Magnetised people are full of positivity, confidence, hope and faith. They know their purpose and believe they are born to succeed and win.

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” — Napoleon Hill

On the other side, demagnetised people lack confidence and are full of fears and doubts. When an opportunity knocks on their door, instead of welcoming it, they say, “What if I fail?’ or ‘I might lose and people will laugh at me’, etc.’

People of this sort never get very far in life. Their fear of going forward makes them stay where they are. With your positive belief, you will find the solutions for every problem and the cause for every effect.

Have you ever thought how often people, whether Muslims or people of other religions, often get their prayers answered, despite the enormous differences among their stated beliefs? How can this be? The answer is not because of the creed, religion, affiliation, sacrifices or offerings, but solely because of belief, or mental acceptance and receptivity about that for which they pray.

You won’t believe what you see; you rather see what you have already decided to believe. All your experiences, events, conditions and actions, either good or bad, are produced by your beliefs in reaction to your thoughts.

Now you might be thinking, how and why is it so? Because every thought is a cause, and every condition is an effect. That’s why it’s so essential that you take charge of your thoughts. The best approach to effectively change any negative thought is to supplant it with a positive thought. That is the main way you can change a negative belief, since you can’t simply erase a thought from your mind without supplanting it with a positive one.

Begin now to sow thoughts of peace, happiness, right actions, goodwill and prosperity. Think quietly, and with conviction, about these qualities. Continue to plant these wonderful seeds of thoughts in the garden of your mind and believe in them, and you will reap a glorious harvest.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 21st, 2023