Where does your faith lie?
Have you had anyone telling you to have faith when you are going through tough times? Don’t worry, they tell you, all will end well if you have more faith in some higher power. All you need is faith.
Over the years, I have observed how these great knowers of life, the ones who have given me unsolicited advice on faith, handled themselves when they were going through hard times. Many went to pieces. Others were bewildered. And all of them were angry. ‘Why me? Why is life so unfair? What have I done to deserve this?’ They were unable to accept any change in their circumstances because they expected life to go on just as it was. Besides, bad things happened only to other people. Where was their faith, I wondered. Why weren’t they able to go with the flow of life and have more faith that this too would pass?
Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nothing in life remains the same. It might seem that way for a time, but if you are growing in any meaningful way at all, you will initiate the change or life will change it for you anyway. It could be anything – the inevitable loss and grief, health issues or some unexpected circumstance that upends life as you know it. How the change happens is not always under your control but how you react to it is.
You might fare better if you have more faith in yourself and listen carefully to your inner voice instead of expecting some miraculous force to help. Neither is easy, but both are essential if you want to live this life —a great gift given to each of us—in a light, joyful way and keep your perspective. They are essential if you want to enjoy the present moment, which is actually the life you are living, instead of living in the past or worrying constantly about the future, neither of which is life..
It’s easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you’re a winner, when you’re number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you’re not a winner. – Vince Lombardi
Once you trust and listen to your inner guide rather than expecting any external source or power to create a miracle, life listens too. The guidance given might not seem easy in that moment, but it always serves you in the long run. Once you take that leap of faith after listening carefully, life cushions your fall in unexpected ways. You grow and land in a fabulous place you never knew existed nor would have known had you not had deep faith in yourself.
Have immense faith in yourself and in your ability to change life to serve your needs well. Once that happens, you have more love, kindness and compassion to give to others. And then you begin to live life the way it should be—by discovering the joy of going with its flow.
