Ideas are powerful. What you believe about yourself and your world detemines to a large extent the kinds of experiences you will have and how you will interpret them.

The ideas you accept as true are your beliefs. Beliefs act like a filter through which information passes before it reaches you. The belief filter acts so strongly that it usually allows in only information you already believe to be true. Contradictory information is either ignored, explained way, or rejected.

What you decide to accept or reject as your beliefs will literally create your world. If you believe you cannot be a certain kind of person, then you won't. If you believe you must have only certain types of relationships, then you will never experience others. If you think you can't go to college or learn a skill, then you experience others. If you believe that God is one way, then you will never experience God any other way (that is if you believe in Gods or Goddesses). If you think that certain topics and questions are forbidden, then you will never explore them.

One of my favorite sayings about beliefs comes from Henry Ford, who said, "Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can't, you're right!"

Power such as this is awesome. It mobilizes nations, creates religions, begins and ends wars, and defines new civilizations. On a more mundane level, it can even influence the kind of toothpaste you buy! Advertisers understand the power of getting you to believe what they want you to believe. So do politicians, governments, and religous leaders. Beliefs set a vision around which people take action.

What is your vision?

What kind of life do you want to live?

What kind of world do you want to create?

What beliefs are best going to get you there?

These questions are the heart of matter. They are so central, in fact, that you are responsible for the beliefs you choose to adopt.

Because beliefs set a vision around which people act, the second principle flows directly from the first and states that, "You are responsible for your actions and your spiritual and personal development."

These two principles, then, are a beginning point for spiritual and personal growth. They address the two fundamentals issues of responsiblity and empowerment. Your empowerment begins with an acknowledgement that you are able to choose those very templates, or beliefs, around which you build your world, starting with your self-image and moving on to your relationships, the culture, politics, and religion.

Without a sense that you are in control of choosing those ideas you adopt as your own, or that choice is even possible, you many not begin to move forward in your development. You may believe you are stuck or trapped in the way things are, or in the way you have always been. You may believe you are not capable of growing or changing. You may believe growth is possible but is dependent on something outside yourself, such as a holy text, a spiritual practice, or a teacher.

I suggest that you reflect on your life now and embark on a journey of self-discovery and develop a power of belief, by acknowledging your power to choose the ideas you will accept as true.

Take one day without reading about other writers, spiritual gurus, political leaders, or other role models or admirers you may have. Write down what you hold as important from your own ideas. Create your own system of important beliefs that you feel you can carry out in a positive way without harming others.

This is the first step in making a difference not only for yourself, but for others in a positive way.

Good luck and enjoy life to the fullest extent.

I HOPE THIS DOESN'T MEAN I AM A DRACONIAN

Mirror Mirror the reptile peer
no DNA could be much queerer
he slithers out to disappear
among the grasses far and near

Basking in the open sun
cold-blooded veins where his blood runs
hiding from the priests and nuns
and hunters armed with serpent guns

His parted tongue tasting air
to smell the scent of human err
and capture those in disrepair
who failed to be aware

Slithering from coast to coast
disguised as just a forum post
he feeds upon the holy ghost
all every human host