When a person becomes older he starts to think more about what he is, in terms of his behaviour. He starts to evaluate his self and makes some conclusion what he is. Sometimes people are coping personalities and behaviour from other people, but they believe that they are so unique. But if a person believes he is unique, he actually is unique. In general, a man may not be what he thinks he is, but he starts to act itself what he thinks he is like and becomes a person contained in his own beliefs.
People are what they believe, aren’t they? It seems like some miracle, I just have to believe what am I, and I’ll really turn that.
Do I think that is right or not? Yes, I think that is right. Don't you remember the story about a lion cub who was brought up by a herd of sheep? As time went by the cub grew into a lion but thought himself to be a sheep! He believed that he was one of them. He used to eat grass like them and bleat. So even though he looked like a lion his behavior was that of a sheep because he believed so. From that example, I can make up a conclusion that perception of society influences on our beliefs, hence, influences on what we are.
Another example is about all well-known Mowgli. He was born as a human child, but then, brought up as wolf. And for some time, before he met people, he believed that he was being a wolf, acted himself as wolf and perceived the world as a wolf. Years later, Mowgli is captured by the villagers and recognised as the lost child. Mowgli learns to speak and tries to imitate the ways of men, so the other people were trying to change his beliefs = change himself. Physically neither lion nor Mowgli have changed. They have been being in their own bodies, but acting and perceiving the world as it was based on their beliefs.
From the view of psychological science all these examples are relative, because they are only stories and fairytales made by people, and I don’t really believe what people make up to entertain children.
Personally, I know one more example about a man being influenced by his beliefs. All world famous ex-bassist of the Sex Pistols was determined by beliefs. His original name was John Simon Ritchie, but a friend of him has nicknamed him as Sid Vicious. The name ‘Vicious’ have influenced on his personality; he began trying to correspond with it. He begun acting vicious himself, despite of he actually wasn’t. Thus, If you start believing in what you do it will reap you the result.
Unfortunately our beliefs can not only give us power to do things but also to set the limits. Besides the fact that humans are what they believe, they are also silly enough to destroy or damage themselves by their own thoughts and beliefs. When we think we are something it makes us to look at the world around us in a different way, and therefore act differently.
A man doesn’t see things he or she doesn’t believe in. For example, people, who don’t believe in God, cannot ever see Jesus coming down from heaven to tell them about the end of the Earth. Because they even don’t believe in God, their brain cannot make up a vision of God’s son. Neither people can see things which don’t fit their value system; when they are not ready to open their minds to something new. Or better to say, they only believe they are not ready for something new.
But, looking at the bright side of that– if we believe we can do something, we really can do it for when we think we are something it makes us to look at the world around us in a different way, and hence act differently. It’s like when you think you are a lady, you start acting like a lady and then you become a real lady since you believe you are one, and you act like one as well. There are lots of reports about how people got rid of dangerous diseases, set records and nearly impossible due to only one thing – their strongest belief that they can, really can do it. So, I think that I can assert thoughts are material.
Thus, our beliefs make us what we are from the inside, they get us through our origins, and eventually they affect us from the external world.
In conclusion, the premise “Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is” can be agreed with. I see now that beliefs are around us; they are inside of us and rule our lives by psychological, sociological and philosophical means, humans themselves are nothing but a biological machine created by nature (or perhaps by God, depending on a person’s beliefs) and only our beliefs and thoughts fill us with life, let us be a fully developed unique socialized personalities.
