Hope vs. Faith
Why do we believe that our lives will never change or improve?
Many of us have been taught that once you reach a certain age it’s too late to change your life. We’re not supposed to “start over” by finding a healthier relationship, a more fulfilling job, or moving to a new town where we feel we belong. It’s too risky. What if it doesn’t work out, what if we fail, or what if we lose it all?
These fears have been ingrained in us by society, so many people don’t even try to find their happiness. Instead we end up hoping that things will get better -that our current situation will somehow turnaround. This hope can bring us a sense of comfort, but it’s hoping that external circumstances will change our lives for the better. By doing this we’re still giving the power of our own happiness to things beyond our control. So why don’t we trust ourselves to decide our own future?
We keep hoping for a better and brighter future, yet we don’t have faith that we’ll get there. If we hope that our lives will change, we have this idea that one day we’ll be in a better state of mind where we’ll finally feel fulfilled. We want to hope that if we’re unhappy this isn’t as good as it gets. That we’re not stuck in pain and suffering.
But to keep hoping for a better future is limiting because it ignores the power we have in ourselves now. So rather than putting our hope into extrinsic influences in the future, we need to have faith that we can bring about our desired happiness -starting now.
The idea of having faith does have religious connotations. However, it’s a version of faith where we’re still expected to wait for something outside of us to improve our current situation. Having faith in something bigger than ourselves brings many people comfort. But we need to learn to have more faith in us and who we are. Perhaps we’re still afraid or waiting for some sign. No matter the reason, we need to stop holding ourselves back from making a change in life.
When we have personal faith we trust our inner voice, our heart, our gut, our intuition. However we choose to identify with the thing inside of us that knows who we are and what we want in life. Once we have faith in ourselves we can make small steps towards the positive changes we wish to see.
Change won’t happen overnight. We need to have patience and trust that by following our truth we’re giving ourselves the best chance for a life of genuine happiness. Yet, no matter the outcome, we should be proud when we trust in ourselves. It will inspire and influence those around us, thus creating more positive change in the world.
“The soul is always wiser than the mind, even though we are dependent on the mind to read the soul for us.” — Eternal Echoes
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