An article written in Good Fruit Grower entitled Shedding Light on Core Rots gives insight into how many exported apples, which grow in regions worldwide, get a moldy core and core rot. From the outside, a person wouldn’t be able to tell these apples have issues with their core because they look like healthy apples. Another intriguing fact is that moldy core problems can form from heavy rains impacting the flower parts, causing the blossoms to have fuji. The core of the apple is formed around the deadly fuji that makes the apple inedible. In other cases, an outside force, the mite Tarsonemus can carry fungal spores into the fruit, impacting the apple’s core and causing rot.
Just as a large portion of apples that look like healthy apples have problems at the core, so do a lot of people. Core issues that impact people vary from loss of identity to debilitating fear. The impact of a negative core that can’t be seen at a glance from the outside coincides with toxic thoughts and negative behavioral patterns. Have you ever wondered why no matter how hard you try to change a behavior, you can’t? Well, you haven’t gotten to the core of the problem!
We must look at how and when our core was negatively impacted to be able to address the core. Like the apple, our core issues can be formed from birth. First, we will look at some aspects of the “wet blossom” negative core beliefs that often are formed early in life. One significant factor to remember is that we live in a fallen world. From the fall of Adam, negative core beliefs took shape. Due to the reality that sin is a part of the world we live in, negative core identities are readily formed from birth. Studies show that a baby can connect to the mother’s emotions and stress level. Take, for instance, unwanted pregnancy. The baby is experiencing the emotional implications of not being wanted, and core fundamentals are formed.
The formation of the negative core stems from life factors we all go through when developing who we are. The construction of being a person is where the “mite” impact of outside forces comes to play. For example, we take our question, “Am I loved or am I enough?” to the world around us, most notably to our parents or caregiver. The answer we get affects us to our core. Maybe we weren’t told we were special or that we were loved. The lack of affirmation that “I’m enough” takes root at our core. Unfortunately, negative core beliefs are more easily formed than positive ones.
So, let’s go back to our challenge that negative behavior that won’t change no matter how hard we try. For example, what if you want to stop striving for attention when someone else is getting praise or accolades? You tell yourself that you will stay quiet and not boast about any of your achievements, but before you know it, you are giving a speech about the time you saved the company from foreclosure. What’s at the core of the behavior? Maybe no matter how hard you tried, no one noticed you. Perhaps you were neglected as a child and spent hours in your playpen. The core belief here could be, “I have to prove my worth, or attention equals worth.” Addressing the core belief and rooting out the harm enables you to experience a healing process that sets you free from that struggle. It’s what’s at the core that enhances thought and behavior patterns, both negative and positive.
There is hope with core problems. The article about apple rot found that pruning the fruit tree and using proper pesticides helps with core rot. With appropriate pruning, adequate light is brought in, so the blossom gets the nutrients needed. The pesticides push out the mite assisting the growth of the apple. You, too, can address core problems by pushing out things and going through pruning so the light can come in, giving nutrients to your heart and soul for healthy growth and freedom from the struggle with the same old patterns that aren’t allowing you to thrive.
If you’re ready to heal and experience freedom from your core beliefs that are negatively impacting your fruit, I’d love to help. Your freedom is here!
Valerie Jackson, MA, LAPC