If you don't believe in God ...or if you don't believe in an afterlife, then what basis is there for any standard of living here on earth?? I guess, living one day at a time has much merit ...as does trying to live each day peacefully and to its fullest.

If we are merely promoting world peace, community peace, or just peace with our family and neighborhood ...for the sake of us all just getting along, then that alone really is not getting much traction as an idea within the scope of the world.  Even within our own society, we succumb to things we don't believe in, all for the sake of not wanting to offend.  And in doing so, we actually help to empower those who don't have as much power as they think they do. Yet, even a substandard organization is more powerful than one of inactivity.

Sadly, it seems that communist dictatorships and terrorist organizations grow quite readily within environments and societies comprised of people who fear to offend. We often fail to take a stance because we are afraid of being viewed as intolerant.  In claiming to be tolerant and open-minded, we close our minds to that which we should be open to ...and we align ourselves with permissive ideologies, allowing intolerance to grow in others who pretend to wave their flag of freedom and personal rights.

"Just believe!!" is a saying that has very powerful hope and faith behind it.  If we just believe, it could give a very important and often vital hope for life's circumstances.  Or it can rather be a passing statement that provides too much simplicity, as in "Good day!" or with the impression that "Everything will be just fine!" ...or hunky-dory.  

Yes, to imagine life free from troubles or problems is quite nice ...or if not without struggles, at least, life can be considered quite satisfactory.  Yes, it's good to feel content ...but, life is often not quite satisfactory.

If we believe life to be hunky-dory ...isn't it primarily how we perceive ourselves? If we perceive ourselves as hunky, or strong and dominant ...able to take on whatever comes our way, then that sort of confidence can often go far. 

But, we can also view ourselves like Dory ...swimming through life with confusion and uncertainty.  Half of us could have an over inflated image or ego ...and the other half could possibly use some assistance and direction. Certainly, everything can not be hunky-dory!!

"Just believe!" often works well for many of the child fantasy movies.  As a child, our beliefs have a certain pure innocence. From the onset, we can believe anything our parents tell us ...and as we venture to friends in the neighborhood or cousins our age, we can build on those thoughts to include new ideas, broadening our very imaginative world.  We learn who we can trust around us ...and very integral to our personal growth is the necessity to believe in ourselves.

We can believe in discovery, and we can believe in love.  

We see the importance of being true to ourselves, and we often redefine what that is for us ...as our ideas evolve.  We continue to seek out happiness, and we know that whatever makes us happy ...may not be what works for someone else. We respect other people's feelings ...and as we continue to grow, we learn more about happiness. We realize how problematic and often hurtful life can be if we are not sensitive to the feelings of others or fail to respect who they are.  And we grow to understand many personal good things too ...part of which is learning about ourselves, and what makes us happy.

So, in a sense, we formulate our world ...and though we can be sad for the environment others feel trapped within, we continue to strive to make our life the best we can for ourselves. We become more solid in our convictions ...and we know what we like, as well as having a sense of what we want.  We believe that if our life centers upon these things ...we can maximize the happiness in our lives.

These are our beliefs ...and they should never be taken from us. We believe in our own happiness ...and it is unique to us.  What makes us happy is uniquely what makes us happy ...and we pretty much know what that is for us, better than anyone else. Simply put ...it is what it is.