Faith is an absolute belief in the unseen, and hope for the puzzle pieces in life to align together. The challenge many of us face throughout our days is living in faith vs fear. It’s like there is a battle waging within us constantly. WE eventually try to figure out how to sit through emotions and thoughts that invoke internal chaos. What if we learned just to be aware, sit through it and be nonjudgmental about our own unique experience?

“Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. You can’t see the future, yet you know it will come; you can’t see the air, yet you continue to breathe.” ~ Claire London

From Fear to Faith

In the fall of 2015, I participated in an eight-week mindfulness meditation course that took place at the Wisdom Tea Shop, in my hometown. We started each class off with a beautiful blend of tea made by the course facilitator, Vicky Chandler. Tea and meditation are a lovely blend that helps one to relax and savor the moment. The course provided insight on paying attention to my internal dialogue. I would like to share a few concepts that I learned that may help you along the way:

1. Be the observer of your thoughts, they are just thoughts

2. Your struggle does not have to take over your life, you are not your suffering

3. Daily practice of meditation can help you become more conscious and aware

4. Meditation can be done anywhere at all times. Driving, walking, eating are all forms of mindfulness meditation

5. Your feelings are your friends

5. Give yourself the time to be in silence, see how much your life will change

6. Your breath is your vitality

7. Learn from your past, live for today and allow the future to unfold in its own time

8. Your fear is temporary and by breathing into fear, healing emerges

9. In silence, we invoke our intuition and higher self

Faith means to trust wholeheartedly, with your entire spirit of the unknown.  It’s completely surrendering your worries, transgressions over to the divine and allowing you to feel free.

“Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain.” ~ Matthew 17:20. 

I have struggled with keeping faith at points in my life and always remind myself of the following passage from the Bible,

Even when you are at your weakest point, a little amount of faith will carry you forward.

Faith does not have a color, smell, shape or texture. It is a sheer belief that all things will work out in divine time.

How do we lose faith?

This is a question I ponder over many times during my days. I feel that we give up on faith when circumstances do not go our way. Distraction can take on many forms being our career, entertainment, relationships even material fulfillment. Such distractions can temporarily make us blindsided.

What keeps faith alive is prayer, meditation, service to others and love. We are always tested in life to see how strong our faith really is. What determines how we react to situations is our attitude and perspective.

On the opposite side of the pendulum of faith awaits fear. When we are in the state of fear, it is a lack of belief in ourselves or situations we are facing. Fear can be debilitating, leading to engaging in negative thinking and take over our peace of mind. How do we change from a state of fear to faith?

There are several remedies for coping with fear. There is no simple quick fix. From practicing mindfulness meditation, what truly helps is connecting to your breath, acceptance, and non-judgment. Fear is a state of thoughts and emotions that can be conquered.

One can choose to do affirmations, yoga anything that will change your focus from fear to faith. We must realize fear is not real; it actually is an illusion of the mind. It is suffering and pent up emotions that need to be released.

I would like to share a story about a tree & faith. As we plant a tree, its life begins as a seed, little by little the tree begins to grow its roots and flourish. It is nurtured by the sunshine, rain from the clouds and stands alone placing its faith on the sun for energy.

At times the tree is tested with storms and gusts of wind, but it continues to stay grounded. It’s faith in the sun always remains intact; it never waivers in fear. My dear friends be like a tree and stay grounded and rooted. When our faith is tested remember who you are, you can handle anything that comes your way.

“Consider a tree for a moment. As beautiful as trees are to look at, we don’t see what goes on underground – as they grow roots. Trees must develop deep roots in order to grow strong and produce their beauty. But we don’t see the roots. We just see and enjoy the beauty. In much the same way, what goes on inside of us is like the roots of a tree.” ~ Joyce Meyer

We face fear at times in our life as a test for our personal growth. Sometimes we feel that we are shattered into a million pieces. On the other side of this experience awaits transformation and a sense of revival. Remember to breathe through the fear; you can change your perspective by understanding where the fear is coming from.   Meditate and have a cup of tea, get to know your inner dialogue and appreciate all that is happening in life.

“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

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