Repeated Patterns Expose Our Hidden Needs ... and Reveal the Key to Success

After a recent unsettling telephone call, I went directly to the cupboard and opened a box of cookies, and did what I have done many times before. I sabotaged a dietary regimen I elected to follow to resolve some health challenges. The difference this time was that I was fully conscious of what I was doing, and yet was still helpless to take any other course of action.

The memory of that powerless moment – when something else took precedence over my conscious desires, common sense, will and determination – was so stunning that I have continued to think about it. I wondered how many others have experienced the painful process of promising ourselves that we will never do that again, and before much time has passed, we’ve failed. We have eaten the cake, had a drink or a cigarette, exploded in anger, gotten deeper in debt, chosen work over family – and blown any attempt to break out of our undesirable cycle. In addition to feeling weak and worthless, we’ve just delivered another blow to our self-esteem and the ability to love ourselves.

I remembered reading years ago that for every habit and every repetitive, addictive experience we have, there is a hidden need within us for it, and that humanity is motivated by these unsatisfied needs. This inner need lies below our conscious level in our subconscious and is tied to a corresponding belief. The need-belief within us is what triggers the repetitive behavior.

This something else within us is what “needs” the abuse, the alcohol, the anger, the cigarettes, the failed relationships, the poverty, the excess weight or whatever our particular problem happens to be. In other words, every outer effect we experience in our lives is the “natural” result of an inner thought pattern or belief. And when these thought patterns and beliefs are based in our subconscious the response is automatic.

I also recalled learning in a college psychology class that by the time we are three to five years old we have already accepted thoughts and beliefs at a subconscious level that will determine many, if not all, of our actions, reactions, decisions and indecisions for the rest of our lives.

When problems begin showing up in our lives, it becomes clear, or should, that some of our subconscious beliefs are not valid or positive. It also becomes obvious that these beliefs are red-hot and active, and will remain so until we consciously choose to change them.

While most of us are well aware that by consciously changing our thoughts we can change our lives, we may not be aware that until we change these old, deeply imbedded subconscious thoughts-patterns they will continue to affect our lives in undesirable ways.

The solution to this situation is not based on will power or discipline. Until we treat the root cause the symptom will never go away. This is why our efforts are met with failure, because the minute we relax our will or discipline, the symptoms are right back in our face.

As I became aware that I hold thought patterns-beliefs that trigger a need to sabotage my desire to release weight for health purposes, I also realized this process holds the answer to resolving many issues that block the good in all of our lives.

The good news is that it doesn’t matter what inner belief-need we hold or why. Recognition of the fact that our lives are being affected is the first step in resolving the issue. We can then choose to take back our power and replace these hidden, but still powerful thought patterns and beliefs.

Our success requires a real desire to release the old subconscious patterns-beliefs and replace them with positive thoughts-affirmations, and a commitment to being consistent and focused on this work. When we release-deactivate the inappropriate beliefs, there will be nothing to trigger the undesirable habit. We also need to remember to be gentle, loving and kind to ourselves. This greatly enhances and hastens release of the belief-need—which opens the path to healthy and successful living.

Here are daily affirmations that I repeat as often as possible with great resolve and feeling: I am now willing to release any pattern-belief-need in my subconscious that creates resistance to my good in any area of my life and affairs. I am now willing to release any need-pattern-belief in my subconscious that creates an imbalance in my physical body. And So It Is!
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Copyright 2008 by Fern Stewart Welch

The author’s book THE HEART KNOWS THE WAY—How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within is available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.