by Harry Palmer 

Think back to when you were younger, and you had the opportunity to explore some new terrain or a new experience. You decided where to go and how to proceed. Wasn't it exciting? An adventure! For most people there is a thrill in discovering new places and seeing new things. This is the mental state of an explorer, of a Type Four believer. 

Then, something strange happens. You discover that one of your possessions is missing. Maybe a purse or a wallet, a jackknife or a piece of jewelry. Something personal that has value to you. Lost! Was it left behind, or what? You search your memory, then your pockets, and then you start looking around. 

You go back over the same terrain, retracing your steps, but now you are in the mental state of a searcher. You look here, trying to remember. You look there, your desperation brings you to the edge of tears. Perhaps you even offer a prayer or two. You quiz yourself: "When did I have it last?" or, "What do I do?" 

Now you are lost. Life is no longer an adventure. The thrill and excitement are suppressed by the anguish you feel. There is a filter over your eyes that turns everything into a disappointment. New experiences and potential opportunities present themselves, but they are not what you are looking for. 

Even if you succeed in finding the item, the trauma of having lost it may persist. If it does, you stop exploring or searching and begin protecting. Until a person recovers the playfulness of exploring, most of their deliberate actions will be motivated by a desire to find, to protect, or to avoid something. 

Beliefs, too, can become lost. How? By becoming so familiar that they are forgotten. It happens after the goal or purpose changes. When the goal was to be cuddled and cared for by mom, the belief, "I'm cute and helpless," was assistive and valuable. One assumed it and it became part of the self. Later when the goal changed, the belief was lost, forgotten. It became transparent. Now, the person perceives and acts through it without being aware that it's there. People lose awareness of what they believe. 

The more beliefs that people have to act and perceive through, the harder it is for them to live the way they want to. When they relax, their lives slip into the pattern of the old beliefs, e.g., "I am cute and helpless"—not a very appropriate belief for a top business executive. Lost awareness of beliefs is responsible for stress and self-sabotage. There are many lost beliefs to be found at the bottom of a failing life, a failing relationship or a failing business. 

Lost beliefs form an invisible blueprint for feelings and actions, and without understanding why, we create or attract the circumstances that will fulfill them. 

Are there beliefs in your blueprint that are no longer of value? They need to be discarded before you can recover the natural high of the explorer. But what are they? How are they found?

How did you get where you are? How did you get yourself into this situation? How do you get out? You try to create a new life, but what happens? It is sabotaged and shattered by lost beliefs. How do you get on with designing your life? 

Avatar® can help you find the answers.