Choices for Life

One of my all-time favorite movie lines comes from the 1947 version of Miracle on 34th Street. It was recited by both lead actors, John Payne and Maureen O’Hara—“Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.” There have been questions in my own life that I can only surrender to faith. “Can I have a financially sustainable career doing what I love? Will I always have good health? Am I really doing what I’m here for in life and work?” While I have some days laced with tension, fear and worry, I try to overshadow them with faith that everything will turn out OK. I have no material evidence to support this belief. I just trust that it will. I believe that we are all spirits in earthly form, and that there is a higher power or creator in whom I place my trust. But regardless of what your religious or spiritual beliefs are, or if you have any at all, you can still have faith. Faith is a trust that you place in custody or care of another. Even if you don’t believe in anything beyond your own physical reality, you still have someone in which to trust—yourself. You cannot deny your own existence.

When I was in the business world, I needed very little faith to make things happen. I knew that I could successfully execute most any plan I put into motion. I knew that if I did A B, I would get to C. After I left the corporate market and entered the world of book publishing and writing, I initially embarked on my mission exactly the same way as I would have done in business. First, develop a business plan with objectives, budget and timeline. Then, execute that plan diligently and efficiently. Finally, obtain desired results. After four years of planning, executing and a lot of hard work, I realized that A B was not getting me to C. No matter how focused and passionate I was, things just didn’t work out exactly as I had planned. Yes, I had pretty lofty goals, but that never hindered my success in the corporate world. After a while, I felt defeated. I was physically and emotionally worn out. Though I had accomplished much, I wasn’t nearly where I wanted to be. I couldn’t make anything happen using the same skills and logic that had served me well in business. So, I did the only thing I could to keep my sanity. I gave up control to faith. Instead of focusing on what I hadn’t achieved, I started believing in all that was still possible. I trusted the universe would never leave me hanging on a thread for my next meal, and what was supposed to happen would happen at exactly the right time. And so, I continue to write...

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Five ways to choose faith in your life: • Believe in miracles, especially those involving you. • Regularly initiate conversations with God, angels, fairies, your higher self or any such spirit entities. • Don’t be attached to our earthly definition of space and time. • Imagine what it feels like to have a certain thing happen and keep that feeling for a minute each day. • Use positive thoughts and words when envisioning the future.