Faith
Updated: Aug 9, 2018
The #1 way to exercise your brain according to neuroscientist Andrew Newberg is to have ‘Faith’.
What does that mean? Well to each one of us that is going to mean something completely different. And the most amazing part… There is no right or wrong way to have ‘Faith’. What works for you, works for you. You don’t have to convince your neighbor that their path needs to be the same as yours.
It is about building a foundation for your life. Finding something that can stand the test of time, withstand the storms that roll thru, ‘a knowing’ that you will have what it takes to be okay.
Some of us will find ‘Faith’ in spirituality, church, nature, maybe even in the work that we do. The point is there are countless ways to find ‘Faith’. How you find it and what you find is as individual as you are.
So how will you know when you find it? It will make sense, it will resonate with every fiber of your being…. honestly you will just know. The hard part may be in trusting yourself, especially if you have people around you telling you where you should look and what it is.
Don’t get me wrong, great discussions with great friends often lead us in the direction we want to go. But even during the great discussions you need to take moments to ask yourself what makes sense to you.
14 years ago when I looked at my life – an amazing husband, 2 incredible boys, the home of my dreams I realized that I wasn’t happy…. I was missing something and it felt like a missing ingredient to my life even though I didn’t know what it was. And looking back it was ‘Faith’. My entire life I have had people telling me what I should believe, what I should think, how I should act. But all those beliefs didn’t belong to me and the reason I knew this was because they didn’t work for me. At this time I began seeking out individuals, authors, speakers etc who appeared ‘to have it all together’. After several years hanging out in the spiritual buffet line I found what I believed, what made sense, what resonated with my soul. Now it isn’t important for me to tell you what I believe, but what I feel is important is to tell you how necessary, how fulfilling, how rewarding it is for you to find it.
Once I knew what I believed I slowly realized that I had ‘Faith’. I began to feel that I was building my life on a solid foundation, not just sand that shifted with each event in my life. It became my ability to weather storms and ultimately to rest in something bigger than myself. But maybe, just maybe with more awareness…. to rest in something as big as myself.
Becoming a meditation teacher is the greatest gift I have ever received . And not because I could take the opportunity to teach my ‘Faith’, but most importantly to teach the skills for others to find the quiet in their lives to find their own ‘Faith’. Helping others find their own unique path in life! And how amazing is it to be part of that!?! Trust me – VERY!!!
I get the opportunity to recommend books that open doors for them. Not books on particular ‘Faith’ paths, but books that open up avenues to discover who they truly are. And in so doing, discovering what they truly believe and how they need to navigate through life.
So my thoughts to you? Seek out your answers, find happiness in your life and with the people around you. Chances are you won’t find those answers on a huge billboard (but then again… maybe you will!) But more than likely your answers will find you in the quiet moments. And those answers will speak directly to your soul, and will wake you up. They will bring clarity to your life, your relationships and your purpose.
So go feast on the spiritual buffet line. But step out of line when you find a dish you like. Step back, absorb it, learn from it, delve into it!! Trust yourself and live it. But also give yourself room to grow, if the moment comes (which it may or may not!) that it stops making sense or you know that you are outgrowing it. Step back in line, see what is being served next. Trust that you learned what you needed to learn but be sure to give yourself the freedom to keep growing.
My wish to you? Seek out mentors, allow yourself to outgrow your mentors. Be vigilant and respectful to the voice you hear in the quiet moments and let that voice lead you. Just keep growing, keep learning the lessons, never stop removing those blocks that limit your life. Embrace the growing pains, knowing that you are going exactly where you need to be going, becoming exactly who you were meant to be and ultimately learning the love of who you truly are.
Ultimately living your life with ‘Faith”. And at the end of the day…. what could be better than that?! <3
Listen to Tamina's audio version: