Sunday 24 June 2012

The Power of Belief. Now that IS Power

I always tend to think about the power of belief whenever I see England play football! And the simple reason is because there always seems to be so little of it. Now don't get me wrong, I would love to see 'our lads' go all the way and reach the final, and (Heaven forbid) win it? Na, that's going a little too far surely (you did see Spain vs France last night, right?)

Many notable authors have described belief in such a way that us mere mortals could understand it, and more importantly apply it, but I prefer the law of belief which states quite simply 

"Whatever you believe, with conviction, becomes your reality." 

Amazing. In fact, absolutely incredible. Please read that again just to be sure it makes the kind of impact it deserves.

If you're a football fan (of sorts) and you've seen any of the (now playing) Euro 2012, you may have seen Ronaldo playing for Portugal. He gave such a convincing performance and the impression that he would go on running all over the pitch until he scored. His 'belief' was such that he KNEW he or his team were going to score, and more importantly win. And so far he's been right.

Was any of that 'belief' evident in ANY of England's games? If it was, I sure as hell missed it, and yet I feel the entire British nation wants our squad to burst upon the football pitch with conviction and play to win. And it's not just been this tournament. The media even have it on good authority from Gerrard that the England squad will be present and give a performance as if a performance was not given during any of their previous games (not many would argue!)

So, why am I having a rant here? Italy vs England tonight. 7pm. 

Jesus said "According to your faith be it unto you." 

So, just how do we get 'more' belief? Apparently all beliefs are learned according to Josh Billings who says "It ain't what a man knows what hurts him, it's what he knows what ain't true." 

So perhaps in the case of our beloved England squad, there's such a huge expectation to repeat the 1966 World Cup Final win every time we enter a tournament. The entire British nation is always looking for that next sign that we're going to pull it off in every contest England enters. In reality however, the squad 'knows' it can't pull it off. Several long gone world cup tournaments later without a win must be right? And there you have it - a self-fulfilling prophecy.

William James puts it this way "Belief creates the actual fact."

So, until we win, we won't believe we can win. But surely belief in winning must come AFTER the fact? And haven't England been winning up to this point? True. But there are larger more difficult hurdles to overcome just around the corner. But as England's new manager Roy Hodgson points out, he's only concentrating on the game in hand - and well done to him. One win at a time builds that all important belief.

So, come on England, believe in yourself (the nation does really) and let's get through this round to the next for that (always) epic battle against Germany. I for one can't wait.

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