A question is a novel way to start a blog. The answer, of course, is yes. Everyone has a belief, even if we do not believe in anything at all. In that case, we believe there is nothing to believe. For each person, their beliefs are their own.
Early in our lives, our beliefs develop on what we learn from mom and dad, what we experience in our day-to-day world, and various positive and negative stimulations that we receive. As we grow, interactions with others in our widening world of school, teachers, social clubs, and friends all play a part in us becoming who we are. Some beliefs grow more substantial, and some diminish as we learn they were not real.
Our beliefs change as we grow. A nice old-man delivering presents to others may fall by the wayside. In its place, there may spring a belief in charity and doing good deeds for others. We grow to realize that everything done for us when we are young is no longer the case. And our belief may turn to the fact that the best things we do reward us in proportion to what we put into the work. And if we are going to invest, do so in the quality which we can afford.
No one except ourselves can control our beliefs, the rules we live by, and how we treat ourselves and others. We must do so, taking into account everything we have learned to date. Some bedrock beliefs are stable and will not change. Some ideas we base on the best of our knowledge, yet as we learn more, and our experience improves, we may find that some of what we believe will also change. Hopefully, we are changing for the better.
Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.