Faith: Understand and Execute

Have you ever considered what faith is? Or what process we go through to believe in something or someone? Are you aware of ‘faith’ or belief in your everyday life? An ancient history book states that faith is: “ Being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.”

So think a moment about the next breath you take. Are you sure there isn’t anything in the air you intake into your lungs which might damage your health? Surely, if you look around your environment, you can’t see or smell any gas or fumes that might harm you. If you did smell something, it would register as possibly something you have smelled before. Only if a new smell was found would you perhaps be a little worried. Would you ever consider this to be ‘a leap of faith’? To continue to take each breath and fill you lungs with air which your body needs.

Or consider it’s a Monday morning and you’re on your way to work in a car, bus, or train. You are just about to go over a bridge in route to work. Why do you believe the bridge will hold the car, bus or train on its journey across it? You would probably respond, ‘well, the engineers and building contractors have gone over the specifications before building it to measure how much weight it would hold and how many vehicles could cross at a given moment. This is why I believe the bridge is going to hold my car, bus or train on the way to work. Because I believe in the integrity and character of these engineers in doing the best job they can.’ Well, this sounds like faith!

Faith, in fact, is something that we exercise every day in our lives. And we’ve exercised it from the very moment we were born. Therefore, we all have faith, to some degree. Think about how much you believe in yourself, or your significant other. Simply put, the definition of faith is an understanding, a belief, or a thought about something, someone, some situation that can not be proven. It is an overwhelming understanding that is convincing.

Other words that relate to faith to consider:

– Trust

-Reliance

-Assurance

-Loyalty

-Dedication

-Devotion

So, this poses the question, do you have faith in yourself ? How do you increase your personal faith?

Self confidence is having faith in yourself and your ability to handle whatever situations are presented to you. And having confidence in yourself means you have belief in your ability to accomplish things that others would consider difficult or impossible. This type of faith in yourself inspires others around you and they often start believing that you can deliver whatever you’ve set out to do.

If you have faith in yourself, you are able to laugh at yourself. You trust and believe that you’ll be able to deal with whatever life throws you. If you know what you want and where you’re trying to go, you have self confidence. Another good indicator of having adequate confidence is a sense of purpose and a willingness to take risks.

Your confidence level may fluctuate on a daily basis. So a bad day at the office or an argument with your spouse may cause you to feel shaky. If you’ve overloaded your schedule and are having trouble meeting all your obligations, you may have periods of self-doubt. On the other hand, solving a problem you’ve been working on for some time will cause it to soar. Believing in yourself can open doors for you. People are likely to agree with your interpretation of your ability to handle situations. If you believe you can handle anything, others will too. Lacking faith in your ability to handle situations occasionally is normal. If you find that you doubt yourself more often than not, you need to work on improvement.

Most people have some faith in themselves, but could use some improvement. So it is important to work on having faith in yourself each day. Choose to believe in your own ability to face life. That may sound easier said than done, but every journey begins with a single step. If you lack self-worth, building it back up will take some time, but it can be done.

Here are some suggestions to get started:

• Fake it till you make it. Act as if you are a person full of self confidence and very often you start to be exactly that. Dress sharply, sit straight and walk tall. Look people in the eye. Pretend you have unlimited faith in yourself even when you’re quaking in your shoes.
• Speak up. You may worry that others will ridicule or reject you if they knew what you really thought or who you really are. This is a form of reacting to what you think people are thinking.
• Praise yourself. When you decide to improve your confidence, your tendency to be self-critical has to end. Look for what you do right each and every day. Don’t miss an excuse to lavish yourself with praise.
• Encourage yourself. By whatever means necessary, you need to develop the habit of self-encouragement. Practice daily affirmations and keep reminding yourself that you will succeed.
• Think positive. You have to take charge of your own mind. Negative self-talk cannot be allowed to stay. When it starts, immediately replace it with a positive thought. Think about what you’ve done right and what you like about yourself. And think about the goals that you are in the process of accomplishing.
• Get to know yourself. When you are trying to build self confidence, your worst enemy is yourself. And the best way to defeat an enemy is to know all there is to know about him. Get to know your strengths and weaknesses. Keep track of your accomplishments, large and small. And pay attention to what types of situations make you judge yourself harshly.
• Help others. Nothing builds self confidence like extending a hand to someone in need. By thinking of the needs of others, you will stop dwelling on your flaws.
• Choose your friends wisely. If there are people in your life who spend their time telling you that you can’t do whatever you’re trying to do, deliberately choose to limit your time with them. Then seek out positive people, people who are encouraging, people who notice what you’re doing right.

The amount of success you achieve in life has a lot to do with how much self confidence you have. And making the decision to work at improving your self confidence could be the most important decision you ever make.

“It is better to believe than to disbelieve, in so doing you bring everything to the realm of possibility.” ~Albert Einstein

~Monretta Vega, LPC

Monretta Vega, LPC

Email: monretta@hsvpcs.com