01/11/2026
Beliefs: The Stories We Live Inside
Beliefs shape the way we move through the world.
They influence how we see ourselves, how we relate to others, and what we allow ourselves to reach for. Most of the time, we don’t even realize they’re there we simply live from them, as if they are facts.
Over the years, I’ve come to understand that beliefs are not single thoughts. They’re more like constellations clusters of ideas, memories, emotions, and assumptions that organize themselves into something that feels true. Some beliefs are accurate and life-giving. Some are partially true. And some are simply mistaken stories that once made sense but no longer serve the life we’re trying to live.
A belief can begin as truth and slowly turn into a limitation.
When I talk about beliefs, I’m not talking about religion or spiritual doctrine. I’m talking about the internal beliefs we carry about who we are, our worth, our place in the world, and what we’re allowed to want. These beliefs quietly shape our confidence, our relationships, our finances, and our sense of possibility.
One of my core beliefs for much of my life was this: I’m a piece of trash thrown out at birth. That belief showed up as low self-esteem, self-doubt, and a deep sense that I wasn’t quite worthy of love, ease, or success. It didn’t arrive as a fully formed sentence. It formed slowly, through thoughts like she didn’t want me, I wasn’t worth keeping, something must be wrong with me. Over time, those thoughts solidified into a belief that felt unquestionable.
And yet it wasn’t true.
As I’ve done my own healing work, I’ve learned more about my birth mother’s life and the trauma she was living with. Through breathwork and deep inner inquiry, I’ve felt not only her fear, but also her care. Now that I have a relationship with her I know the truth is that she made a choice to protect me from an abusive environment. What I once interpreted as rejection was actually an act of love within impossible circumstances.
That realization didn’t erase the old belief overnight. But it loosened it. And that mattered.
This is one of the ways I work with beliefs both in my own life and in the spaces I hold for others. We don’t attack beliefs head-on. We get curious. We slow down. We gently break a belief apart into the individual thoughts that created it. Then we ask honest questions:
Is this thought accurate?
Is it complete?
Is it mine or did I inherit it from someone else’s fear?
When a belief is examined at the level of thought, it begins to shift naturally. A mistaken belief doesn’t need to be fought. It needs to be understood.
I see this same pattern show up around money and worth. I grew up in a family where comfort was valued, but ambition was restrained. We didn’t show off. We didn’t ask for more. Stability mattered more than expansion. Those values shaped me in real ways some helpful, some limiting. One belief that quietly took hold was that I didn’t expect compensation for the work you are supposed to do.
That belief didn’t come from truth. It came from history.
As I’ve questioned it, I’ve come to see that my work helping people understand themselves, reconnect with their bodies, and shift the patterns that hold them back has real value. And allowing myself to be supported financially for that work isn’t selfish or wrong. It’s honest.
Beliefs are powerful. They drive our choices long before we consciously decide anything. That’s why curiosity is essential. If we never question our beliefs, we risk letting outdated stories determine our future.
What I’ve learned and what I continue to practice is this:
You are not required to live inside a belief just because you learned it early.
You are allowed to revise the story.
You are worthy because you exist.
You belong because you are here.
You are allowed to want more not because you’re lacking, but because growth is part of being alive.
This is the work I’m committed to both personally and professionally. Helping people slow down, listen inwardly, and gently rewrite the beliefs that no longer serve them. Not by force. Not by pressure. But through awareness, breath, and honest reflection.
You are not broken.
You are not asking for too much.
You are a gift, born into a loving universe, learning how to live more fully inside yourself.
In service,
Hal Link
https://breatheandrisewithhal.com/
