filed in Daily Life
Faith Takes Practice
I have friends who seem to trust that the universe is a fair place, and that everything will turn out okay. I envy them. For me, faith (and I use that term broadly) is a daily work out. Gratitude and patience are definite parts of the equation. But those don’t come easily either, so I’d add creating rituals in which to practice. What would you add?
Photo by Yong Hee Kim
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I like the idea of faith as a “daily workout.” I would add two things: believing in something bigger than yourself, and acknowledging that you don’t have to have all the answers all the time.
Yes, Kate. That’s beautiful.
My faith in humanity is kept in balance all the time just by watching the people around me.
It’s like that law of nature: For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction.
Only, I find, if you’re willing to look for it, good wins every time.
I get comforted by Martin Luther King’s famous line, “The arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice.” The only way I can really feel that good wins every time is to take a very, very long view.
oh Wendy you are so right, faith DOES take practise! I’m not sure I believe that things “work out”, in my mind”things” don’t work out, but people can make a lot of things work out, and I know the power of thought and all that, it is just so damn hard…to hold that faith all the way, to believe THIS is the right way, and keep trying, over and over again…like an athlete…practise, and remembering that the power lies in repetion…knowing when to cut your losses, when to keep faith…its’ picking the strategy and setting the goals that are so difficult sometimes…what I do belive in is this:”Watch your thoughts; they lead to attitudes Watch your attitudes; they lead to words Watch your words; they lead to actions Watch your actions; they lead to habits Watch your habits; they form your character Watch your character; it determines your destiny…
I haven’t checked in with you for a while, there’s a lot of wisdom flying around here. tks for sharing your thought, putting a frown, and then a smile on my face. ciao! /Jess
Watching the Olympics, I’m struck by the ability of elite athletes to stay focused after they’ve screwed up. They seem able to leave their less than perfect moments behind, and stay present, in order to succeed. It’s a great skill to travel with through life.
In boot camp, the drill instructors would hollar, ATTITUDE CHECK! That was whenever someone, or the entire platoon, were having a BAD DAY. Really there are no good days in boot camp. Anyway, I still use that today—telling myself “change your mind” pretty much a lot of the time.
Boot camp? Tell us more.
October 1979, Fort Bliss, Texas, Boot Camp, US Army, 18 years old. What was I thinking???? I learned more in those 8 weeks than a lifetime. Was it worth it? Yes.