Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; Unbelief, in denying them.

Something in you keeps making claims: that this work matters, that a person deserves better than they are getting, that you are capable of more than you are currently doing. Belief, in the sense being used, is the practice of taking those inner assertions seriously. Denial is the practice of talking yourself out of them. The movement is not limited to religion, and it does not exclude it either: whether what speaks in you is faith or conscience, the choice is between accepting what it says and arguing it away.

Catch the next time you explain away something you know. Write down the claim before the counter-argument arrives, and see whether the counter-argument was reasoning or just relief.