Even on the road we can observe how our beliefs fuel our actions – our speed, whether to overtake or not, … sometimes our actions don’t fit the circumstance

What is it about life that causes us to act on our beliefs even when they do not match the reality in front of our eyes?

Our thoughts create our emotions and motivate our actions so sometimes it’s worth considering whether or not our thoughts are true. This can result in much greater happiness than simply acting on thoughts or beliefs we have or hold. Sometimes our thoughts and beliefs can take us out of the present and hold us hostage either in fear of the future, stuck in the past or in a parallel reality that is much worse than the actual present being shown to us (or presented).

Tone of voice, facial and bodily expressions, words, and actions – the things that impact the people around us – are all influenced, if not created, by our thoughts. For example, fear, principle, and identity can be inherently linked with a specific thought and will drive action that cannot be logically understood or appreciated if the onlooker has no idea about the existence of the thought. The scary thing is that the individual thinking it may have no idea they are entertaining it and acting on it regularly. They may have no idea that their actions are being driven by this belief and they may rationalise their behaviour saying things which may be hurtful to others. They may accompany their speech with hurtful tones of voice, facial and bodily expressions.

We all have thoughts running around our head that are influencing our expressions, speech, actions and emotions – down to how we drive and how we feel when we are driving. We need to examine those thoughts and beliefs so that the false ones are not given the power to drive us.