— CAPTAIN PICARD. A MATTER OF TIME. 45349.1

We all have convictions. If we can’t articulate them in words, we do express them in actions. It’s not what we say; it’s our behavior that reveals our beliefs.

The difference between the two can be embarrassing, if not deeply distressing. And the point of this difference is not that we are therefore failures or “sinners.” It’s that we’re still growing. We are “works in progress.”

To be willing to re-evaluate our convictions is to affirm that we are always working on what we believe. What’s ironic is that the people who are unwilling to question their beliefs are usually those whose convictions are weakest. These are the same people who seek to impose their beliefs on others by force or threats because if they can’t convince other people somehow, they are reminded of their own darkest fear: That they might be wrong.

It takes a strong sense of self to admit we might be wrong. It takes a strong commitment to Truth to welcome new opportunities to test our beliefs. It takes great wisdom to know when our failure is the result of a mistaken conviction, or our own inability to carry out what we say we believe. Because in the end, the real test isn’t about convictions anyway. It’s about our character.

Applying my convictions allows me to re-evaluate them. I am open to what these opportunities teach me about my beliefs, and about my character.

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The above meditation is taken from Going Boldly on Your Inner Voyage © 1999-2004, IF Books.

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