THE PUZZLEMENT OF FAITH

There a lot of things I wonder about in this life and one of those things is faith. I had thought that faith meant a belief in something as being true without any proof. As I get older this definition has changed for me. I now believe that faith is a belief that life is worth living for many reasons based on my life experiences. If I have faith I say to myself, I’m going to go for it. After I explained this to someone I got the question; faith in what? That got me thinking again. My faith could be based on faith in myself, faith in my friends, or faith in a higher power. At some level I believe that it is all of the above. I have faith that my life has a purpose and that if I am true to myself, life will be worth living. I think that in most cases a person’s faith is really not blind. Their faith is based on their understanding of life and their experiences.
Faith goes hand and hand with your belief. If I see someone that is very frustrated or in despair, I would say that they have lost their faith. This could be because they have doubts about their belief or because of experiences that have violated their faith. Life does not guarantee that we will only have pleasant experiences. What I believe is that faith promises that each experience has a purpose and ultimately that purpose is positive.
We have a great luxury that allows us to build our faith based on our understanding of life and that would allow for a positive view. We can get all tangled up in religion but there is no need for that. You just need to affirm what faith means to you. Start with faith in yourself and build a support structure. It is ultimately your decision if this will be a positive or a negative influence. Now we get to where the rubber meets the road, or as my father would say – the bottom line. You and you alone are accountable for your life.