Rock
Rock is the firm footing upon which we build our world. We dig foundations to bedrock, if possible, so the things we build have the best chance of staying upright. Rigid foundations resist movement—it is the same with foundational thoughts.
Little children know nothing of the world. Adults and “tribes” teach the children what each tribe decides they need to know. These culturally accepted lessons of life, which each of us learn at others’ knees, become our foundational truths, and help us to establish a firm footing in the world. In a sense, without such teachings we would be autistic. We would exist, but we would not be able to define ourselves or place ourselves.
The foundational truths we learn are subjective, however. Even more important, we likely have forgotten that we have totally accepted, and are governed by, those foundational truths. They are that deeply embedded.
Foundational statements affect, as does nothing else, our worldview. A bald example: a divorced mother tells her daughter, age three, “Never trust a man. They’ll all leave you.” This one statement has the potential to colour all future relationships the young child has. And that’s just one statement.
Of course, you will see the problem here. We incorporated these “truths” because, when we were small, big people (who had power or authority over us) demanded that we structure our being and behaviour according to them. We incorporated them into our being, and they frame how we understand reality from that point on.
Unfortunately, however, some of these “truths” are—untrue. We must begin by raising such “truths” to consciousness. Then, we can evaluate them more objectively—in a sense deciding if they actually work.
Make a list of all of the foundational truths you know about yourself and the world. As a hint, think about broad categories of things. For example, think of people of different nationalities or races. What comes immediately to mind? What are the truths you know about men? Women? Business? The Church? Carry on from there.
