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Chapter Four: Self-Belief

There are very few souls in this world who can honestly say that they have total belief in all that they do. Occasionally, you will come across exceptional people who, for some reason, have found a worthwhile cause that they are conscientiously dedicated to and nothing else on Earth matters to them. But these individuals are few and far between. Of course, there are those who claim to have total self-belief in their ability to be extremely successful in all of their endeavours, but more often than not you will find that their heads will be so far up their own asses that they can fart through their ears!

In truth, every one of us at some point in our lives will experience at least one morsel of self-doubt. This could range from just a nagging feeling that a single hair is out of place on a head recuperating from a fancy £200 haircut, to a complete lack of confidence due to the belief that everybody you meet is judging you because of a speech impediment. Either way, a lack of self-confidence can have a serious influence on a person’s lifestyle, regardless of the reason or cause of the concern. Having belief in oneself is a great leveller, but generating that self-belief takes great care. Indeed, there is a fine line between the gentle cordiality of relative self-assurance compared to the arrogant cockiness associated with overconfidence.

My own self-doubts surface every moment of every day. I’ve always been like this and I don’t envisage that circumstance changing any time soon. I recently attended a demonstration of mediumship where the medium brought forward some superb evidence concerning the spirit people who regularly work alongside me when I’m writing my books. After establishing their identity, the medium was precise with their message: ‘Have patience and do not doubt what you receive.’ This is more or less the same message that I always receive from any medium, no matter where or when I receive information from the spirit world. And yes, it sounds like a general observation – since we could all do with showing patience and exhibiting more confidence in ourselves on a daily basis. But I seem to be the only person at these demonstrations that is ever given this information. Everyone else is told that they are going to win lots of money and marry the person of their dreams – only joking!

Seriously though, self-belief is something that I personally feel needs to be earned rather than invoked through the mechanisms of an overindulgent ego, and I will now attempt to explain why.

Just before I started writing my last book, New Mediumship, I was actively involved with a group of spiritual friends who met up weekly to participate in deep trance work. Now, deep trance, for anyone who is unfamiliar with its context, is a method of bringing forward information from the spirit world through the voice of a spirit person. This feat is achieved when the medium is in a trance state (the stage between awake and deep sleep) and the spirit person utilises the medium’s vocal chords to deliver information directly to the other people in the group.

I was informed that there would be many spirit people working with me whilst writing my book and that I would receive information when writing in a trance state. As you can imagine, I had several questions in my head after receiving this message. Who will be working with me? What level of trance will I need to invoke in order to receive their words? How will I know when they are ready to work with me?

All relevant questions, I thought to myself, and, to be honest, I was given relevant answers that satisfied my curiosity. But the biggest dilemma that I had in my modest, diminutive, humble little consciousness was whether the information that I typed into my trusty computer actually did come from the thoughts of those in spirit, or just my own exuberant imagination. The answer that I received was concise and to the point: ‘You must attend this trance circle and you will have your answer.’

As time passed and my book slowly began to take shape, I would diligently attend the weekly circle and receive information from the spirit people who would come forward through the trance mediumship of my friends in the group. And, even before I had the chance to ask about the validity of the information in my book, I would be informed that I had written exactly what they had intended. They knew that my self-belief needed a boost every time that I doubted myself. And even now, as I type the next word, I still doubt what I am doing – incessantly!

There are a great many people who believe in what I write and I am indebted to them for their support. There are also countless others who just can’t comprehend how I receive much of my material – and I totally understand their reasons for this. And as much as I believe in the spirit people who work alongside me, I still choose to retain this self-doubt in my own ability. Perhaps this self-doubt keeps my ego in check. If that’s the case then it’s worth hanging onto it for the foreseeable future.

I remember vividly when I wrote about how mediumship is primarily processed through thought and not physical senses. At the next weekly trance circle, my good friend, Donny Carmichael, went into a deep trance and brought forward Mr Chung. This was a fabulous experience for me to hear Chung’s voice through another medium and I listened intently as he told me word for word what I had previously been writing about only a few days prior to this meeting. He finished by saying, ‘Show a little more patience, David, and remove your self-doubt. Your book is wonderful.’

I hadn’t told a soul what I had been writing about. Donny didn’t even know I was writing a book!

It’s amazing to receive such indubitable confirmation when you continually doubt what you are doing. I must admit that it did give me the impetus to keep going in what transpired to be a marathon of extreme proportions. I vowed I would never contemplate such a venture again but perhaps it was just my self-doubt creeping back in that made me so unwilling to commit to any future project. But here we are, two years later, and the self-doubt is still nagging at me like a Jack Russell begging for a chicken bone!

Self-belief is a wonderful gift. Use it in the right context and you may inspire others to make their world a better place. Millions of souls around our world have great belief in various diverse religions that motivate followers to embrace everything that’s good about life. Realistically, religions don’t have to prove the actual existence of gods or prophets, they only have to suggest that there are suitable rewards for being a good human being and for enduring life’s perils with a passion that defies conventional philosophy. It is only when people profess superiority over their peers that religion can often be criticised for false pretences. But the fundamentals of established belief systems can often carry an injured soul through the darkest periods of their journey until the tiniest hint of light brings salvation.

Self-belief can also trigger a wave of optimism within the mind of anyone left facing their greatest test. There is no pretence in physical death, no matter what your beliefs or persuasions may be. There will always be someone left behind to mourn your passing with a fervent disposition that will grate at your emotions, even when you find yourself in the next dimension. The greatest test is finding a way of informing those left behind that life does go on. And if those left grieving do not believe in the afterlife or even a place where heaven and gods may sing from the same song sheet, then you must find any way you can of instilling an impressionable self-belief prerequisite within any mourner’s cognisance.

It can take many physical years for such a process to manifest and it can be a daunting task for any spirit person who attempts it. But it can be done and I’ve witnessed the results of these incredible feats on many occasions. We must remember that the power of thought is the most influential force known in the universe. Sooner or later, those left grieving on this side of life will receive a barrage of thoughts from the spirit world concerning the continuation of life in a multi-dimensional capacity – and furthermore that their loved ones who’ve passed over are more alive than they have ever been, and they’re desperate to tell you how wonderful they now feel.

Before you start worrying about having to attempt this challenging mission for yourself, please bear in mind that you won’t be alone in this task. We all have spirit guides and these extraordinarily talented souls will aid you every step of the way until a glimmer of self-belief is detected within the minds of those who seek their love. And once a spark of light illuminates the black hole created by grief then the abilities of spirit mediums are requested by the guides. By then, the healing process shall have begun, and the precedent set by just a hint of self-belief shall soon develop into something that money simply can’t buy.