Most of what you believe wasn’t chosen. It was absorbed. And the moment you see that clearly, your entire inner world becomes workable again.

Shunryu Suzuki, the Zen teacher who brought beginner’s mind to the West, said:

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.”

Let’s think about that.

The older we get, the more convinced we become that we understand ourselves and the world. We think our beliefs were chosen. Most weren’t. They were inherited. Absorbed. Formed in moments we barely remember. Passed down through family, friends, culture, and the content we consume without noticing.

But if you trace any belief far enough back, you eventually hit the root.

And most of the time, the root is flimsy.

An idea that felt true to a version of you that doesn’t exist anymore.

A belief you never questioned again after the day you accepted it.

This is normal.

Thinking takes energy.

Questioning takes attention.

It can feel exhausting.

Concluding is easier.

But convenience makes us blind.

We end up living inside assumptions instead of reality, running into the walls of our own limiting beliefs without ever seeing what’s beyond them.

Once you see how a belief is created, adopted, and reinforced, you can release the ones that don’t serve you. They lose their power. Because what is a belief without the words used to hold it together?

Language is a tool we invented to translate signals into meaning.

Useful, but not the whole picture.

Still just a translation.

There’s only one mindset that gets you closer to truth: curiosity.

Not knowing. Not assuming. Just awareness.

Society pushes the opposite.

You’re supposed to have a take. Pick a side. Be certain.

But there is no side in curiosity. Therefore no conflict.

And certainty ages fast. Every discovery replaces the last one.

When you cling to absolute truth, you’re choosing to feel right now and be wrong later.

Curiosity is sustainable.

Curiosity is actual security.

It keeps you aligned with reality instead of old stories.

Bruce Lee talked about this too:

“Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water.”

Water is responsive.

It meets the moment as it is, not as it remembers it.

That’s what a childlike mind does.

That’s what real intelligence looks like.

When you soften your mind enough to look again, your life stops being a reaction to old conclusions. It becomes something alive. Something you can actually shape.

So stay curious.

Be wet clay.

Be a beginner again.

Be a baby.

Even Einstein knew what’s up.

He said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning.”

Because truth isn’t static. It updates from moment to moment.

Reflect

What is one belief you hold that feels “true” only because you never questioned the moment you first accepted it?

Write the original moment down.

Then ask: Is this still true for who I am now, or just who I used to be?