Intentional Living in Faith
Faith is believing in something or someone. It’s synonymous with confidence or trust. You use faith when you have lost all belief in yourself so you let faith step in and cross your fingers that everything will be ok.
When I was struggling in nursing school, my mom would always say to me “pray to God, just keep praying.” I remember thinking at that time, “I’VE BEEN PRAYING!” I felt so beaten up from clinicals, exams, and check offs that my performance was dwindling. My grades were fluctuating and I didn’t know if I would make it. I lost so much faith in myself. Getting so fed up, I just stopped praying and instead “I gave it up to God.” I let faith handle this. I put all my stress, struggles, concerns…set them in front of me and just let it be. I was done. Instead of praying, I had a 1:1 with God and said, “I trust you.”
I ended up doing well and graduated, but that moment in my life was one of the many times I just gave up and let God. Even though I lost faith in myself, I entrusted confidence in God.
Now, not everyone believes in God or a higher power and that’s fine. Living intentionally in faith is not just for religious people, it’s for everyone. Even though you do not have religious beliefs, you must have confidence in something whether it is in yourself or the talents in others. Having faith in an imperative aspect in our lives because when we feel like we cannot control the actions around us, we always seem to “let it be” or “leave it to God.”
Crying isn’t a sign of weakness, sometimes it’s a sign of being strong for too long.
All too often, we lose faith in ourselves. Why? Because we are tired of being defeated. I think the reason we end up losing that faith is because we compare ourselves too much to other people. One of my favorite quotes is “comparison is the thief of joy.” This literally speaks to my soul every time I see it or say it out loud, because it is the truth! Every time we compare ourselves, we are ridding ourselves from happiness that is meant for ourselves! I’ve blogged about this before, but it is a subject that needs to be reiterated many times.
In the world that we live in, it is hard NOT to compare our strengths with others. I’m guilty of this, as many of you are as well, because we are constantly reminded of how well others are doing whether it is by word of mouth or social media. Social media is the main culprit these days since so many people use these platforms to brag about their lives. Am I right? It’s the worst and every time I compare my situation with someone who is doing better than me, my soul literally crumbles.
That’s when I knew I needed a break from this mess. I had to change my way of thinking. I believed that other people had it better than me when I should be thinking, I will be as successful as him or her. I should be clapping for their wins. I need to use their success as a driving force for my own success. I was losing faith in myself, when I should be building my faith. Instead of comparing one another, we should be praising one another. In this way, we would be constructing confidence in each other.
Intentional living in faith means not only having confidence in yourself but in others as well. The next time you find yourself comparing your self to someone else, stop yourself and rephrase your thoughts. The next time you feel defeated in your life, give it away and believe everything will be ok. Whether you belief in a higher power or not, fill your mind with encouraging thoughts and you will be gifted with a favorable outcome. Remember, it’s a mind game. Always believe in the good in things and people. Know that you will always be faced with negativity, you just have to over look that toxic behavior. Live without doubt, praise failure because that’s where success is built on. Look fear in the eye. Be strong and have faith in yourself. You will always come out on top.
