I knew a man who craved expensive clothes, expensive cars, and expensive tools. He claimed that he loved the heart energy of quality. Since he never expected to find quality in less expensive things, he never did. On the other hand, his wife found quality clothes at consignment shops and pretty decorations at yard sales. These things served her well for as long as she needed them to. They both loved quality, but their perceptions around that energy created different outcomes.

We create what we believe. For example, my mother totally believed her plants were receptive to the love she felt for them. And they were. She grew the most amazing flowers and vegetables in both quantity and quality. She talked to them and expected them to understand, which they did.

The reverse side of that story is about a man who also loved plants, but saw them as beautiful, inanimate objects. Therefore, his love of beauty allowed him to externally admire but not interact with the plants. Since he gave lots of care to his plants, they grew well. However, they fell short of the wondrous plants my mother grew.

Our belief system either supports us or limits us. Jesus proclaimed that any miracle he did we could do also. But all too often we are afraid to step outside of our small box of perceptions. It causes us to turn down the invitation of power that our spirit offers.

Too many people hold the belief that if it isn’t broken don’t try to fix it. Or to put it in energetic language, if it was handed down by people we trusted, then don’t change it. And while the perceptions you were handed may be working out fine for you, they aren’t really yours until your heart defines them.

Of course, letting your heart define your beliefs means your view of yourself, others, and the world may change. It is this change that scares us away from the new that can be very exciting. We hang on to the known because we haven’t trusted the heart enough to let it create the miracles it is capable of manifesting.

Daily you are faced with a choice. Do I let the energy offered by my heart define my life, or do I stay in the comfort zone of hand-me-down beliefs? One offers an opportunity for authenticity, while the other offers a false sense of safety. This is the power of choice.