There’s an important difference between a belief, such as “there’s something wrong with me,” and a passing thought. To understand this difference, we must first define what a “belief” is. More than just a thought, a belief is a conviction held to be true that carries emotional weight. This emotional weight is what makes beliefs so powerful, often dictating our behavior.
In contrast, a thought is a fleeting idea or opinion that crosses our mind. Thoughts may or may not carry emotional weight. They come and go without necessarily having a long-lasting impact on us.
The primary distinction between beliefs and thoughts lies in the emotional charge – the stronger the emotion attached, the more a belief is “cemented” in our minds. This emotional charge is experienced as a physical sensation in the body. Without these sensations and emotional charge, a belief would lose its grip over us and would resemble a passing thought.
This is why it’s not easy to merely “stop thinking there’s something wrong with you” if that’s a deeply held belief. The emotional charge attached to that belief is what keeps it firmly “cemented” in your mind, making it hard to let go of.
In contrast, consider the thought: “a meteor could come in and destroy the planet at this very moment.” If that thought doesn’t carry any emotional charge, it becomes easy to let it pass by, just like a fleeting cloud in the sky.
With Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), we can work to lessen and release that physical sensation and emotional charge. By doing so, the belief loses its ‘weight,’ becoming more akin to a passing thought, or a light, fleeting cloud. Consequently, it becomes easier to let go of and drifts out of mind.
This transformative process highlights the power of EFT in addressing and altering deeply held beliefs, providing a path towards a clear, serene sky of the mind, unburdened by the heavy clouds of emotionally charged beliefs. And we do so by tapping on some of the related emotionally charged memories that “support” that belief as being true.
Some of these memories we can work on by ourselves and others, if too emotionally intense or overwhelming, are best worked on with the help of a certified EFT practitioner.