The Story: Have a little faith that things will be okay
Many people have an aversion to the word “faith”, because they think it refers to a superstition. However, it’s perfectly rational to have faith – at least a little bit, and you will see for yourself if you look back over your life, examine your experiences, and project the likely future.
Every day of your life, or almost every day of your life, you have woken up once more. Every day of your life you have faced your challenges, in one way or another, by yourself or calling on the support of loved ones, and helping your loved ones face their challenges. I know this is true, because you wouldn’t be reading this if you hadn’t. You might not have always found a perfect solution, but without a doubt, you did find a solution.
You might have gone through dark times, and you might even be going through dark times. Even so, when you look you can find things to be grateful for. If you’ve lost your house, you may still have your family. If you’ve lost your family, you may still have your health. If you’ve lost your health, you still have your life, perhaps even surviving against terrible odds. So, in one way or another, things have worked out for you.
In all probability, your life is much better than that worst case scenario. You may even have had the fortune of finding a partner to share your life with, or been blessed with children whom you adore, who inspire you to previously unknown purpose and resolve, or perhaps you have found some wealth by well-timed investments, or even just managed to get by, day after day – even when it seemed that fate was against you.
Think about when you were a child of 5 or 10 years old. You probably had many ideas of how your life would turn out. Your life probably turned out very differently to how you expected, and when examined, you may well find that it turned out much better than expected – with intricacies finer than the finest painting, and details that you never anticipated which delight you. So, things generally do work out, and you can expect that things will continue to work out.
Whether you think of it as a metaphor or a literal expression, putting your worries in the hands of Providence, expecting things to work out – providing you take all reasonable steps to protect yourself and your loved ones – makes sense. If you take that first step towards faith, opening the curtains just a chink to let some light shine in, who is to say exactly what it might illuminate, what courage it might grant, what change it might bring. Go ahead. Find out for yourself.
The Eps:
Being grateful in Bangladesh – Episode 178
Everyday existential crisis – Episode 176
The Links:
Ayahuasca Diaries – Why I believe in God by Macey Tomlin
The Cash:
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