to hear people in “self-help” circles talk about the importance of recognizing and leaving behind limiting beliefs because, although not everyone realizes it, one of the biggest problems we have in the world today is the
fact that many people are unconscious of the ideas that guide their lives and inform their identities – and understandably so, for we indeed live in a world characterized by omni-competition, and manufactured danger
and poverty, as anyone who fully understands the modern economic world can plainly attest. Under such
conditions, one can expect epidemic levels of physical, mental, and emotional insecurity among the majority of people – and in such situations it is natural for people to be afraid of stepping outside of the consensus
mold.
In any case, it is incumbent upon all those who have some modicum of free time and space to take a moment
to sit down and ask themselves: “do I really know what ideas are running my life? Are they helpful? Are they
true?” We ought to ask ourselves whether or not we truly understand the source and origin of any idea that
we may be living out – this way, we can begin to lead our lives in a more conscious manner, free from the
influence of those who – for whatever “reason” it may be – may not want to see us become the empowered,
intelligent, caring, and resilient people we have the potential to be. Do we fully understand the ideas that
make up our world? Do we understand the minds of those who gave us said ideas?
If we look at the word “authority” we see clearly that the word “author” is embedded within it. The “authority”, in other words, is one endowed with the ability to determine what we believe and do. When someone
has been given “authority” to tell us what to do, we behave accordingly – such as when a teacher tells us to
open a book to a certain page. Or, in another situation, when we trust someone to be an “expert” on this or
that subject, we call them an “authority” on it, meaning that, on some level, we have given that person the
“authority” to co-“author” the narrative of our existence. Hence, we take what they say as “knowledge”. Because they are the “author(ity)”, we have internalized the script they have given us and adopted it as our own
because we TRUST them. And because vR(