Thursday, July 30, 2009

Awareness and Faith in Times of Adversity

sLife is a journey comprised of many steps on our personal path that takes us down a winding road of constant evolution.

Each day, we are provided with a myriad of opportunities that allow us to transform ourselves into our next best selves. One moment we are presented with an opportunity to react differently when yet another someone or something in our life rubs us the wrong way. Another moment we may find ourselves wanting to walk away from a particular circumstance but are not sure if we can.

Sometimes, we find ourselves stuck in a rut that we can never seem to get out of. Perhaps we make the same choices over and over again because we just don’t seem to know how to choose otherwise.

Rather than leading us forward, our personal paths can sometimes take us in a seemingly never-ending circle where our actions and choices lead us nowhere but to where we’ve already been. It is during these moments that awareness and faith can be the first step to change.

Awareness is when we are able to realize what we are doing. Faith is when we are able to realize where we are going.

Awareness is the first step to change through faith because we can’t make a change unless we are aware that one needs to be made in the first place.

It is once we see the destination we seek, and have faith that we will arrive there, that we then begin to understand why we do what we do.

Afterwards, it becomes difficult not to change because we are no longer asleep to the truth behind our behavior. We begin to realize that, just as much as we are the root beneath the growth of our behavior, we are also the originator for any changes that we want to happen.

There is a freedom that comes with awareness of our faith, combining the two. Rather than thinking that we are stuck in a repetitive cycle where there is no escape, we begin to see that we actually do very much play a hand in creating our lives.

Whether we are aware of them or not, our behaviors and choices are always ours to make. Our past and our present no longer have to dictate our future when we choose to be aware and faith-filled.

It is then that we are free to move beyond our perceived limitations, make new choices, and take new actions. With this awareness, our paths can’t help but lead us forward in our lives while paving the way for new experiences and new ways of being. It is through faith that we can continue to consciously evolve.

Along the path which lies before us grows hardships and joys.

When we encounter adversity, the stress we feel can erode our optimism, eventually convincing us that the issues we face cannot be overcome.

In faith, however, there is no situation so dire, no challenge so great, and no choice so bewildering that it cannot be overcome. Though we may believe that all avenues have been closed to us or that our most conscientious efforts will come to naught, we are never without feasible options.

The best course of action may be veiled benath a protective shell of doubt, but it is there and waiting to ne nurtured to life and growth.

When we are honest with ourselves with regard to this simple fact, we can overcome anything because we will never stop looking for a solution to the challenges before us.

Faith, coupled with a sturdy plan of awareness, is the ultimate antidote to adversity’s tendency to instill disillusionment in the human mind.

As difficult as the obstacles that plague us seem, they are no match for the unconditional love of a supportive God who has been a part of our life since before the day of our birth, and will be with us forevermore.

We must not to be misguided by our fears as this gives rise to the notion that there are problems without solutions.

When we have faith in the talents and capabilities that God has granted us we may discover that our personal paths, that we once believed could lead us in a seemingly never-ending circle, miraculously open. Even if all we can do is allow our perspective to turn an impediment into an opportunity for growth, we will have found the hope that is an inherent element of all hardship.

Our destiny is a product of our own creation.

Even when it seems we have nowhere left to turn, there is a solution waiting for us.

The only insurmountable obstacles are the ones we create in our own minds, and these can only persist if we allow them to overpower our faith.

Uncertainty will always be a part of our existence, but perseverance and mindfulness of what we believe ... our faith, will never fail to see us through to the other side of hardship where only peace and joy can thrive.

No matter what life places in our path, there is absolutely no situation that cannot be resolved with time, love, and friendship.

With love & light,

Rob