Taking a leap of faith begins with initial acknowledgement and radical awareness of where you are. Faith as a notion, faithful as an act of being. Faith lives and breathes. It’s not some abstract, egotistical demand that the fantastical is perfectly real, solid and attainable without question or doubt.
Faith is greater than a list of dogmas and doctrines that must be believed entirely without room for natural human response. We often feel as if we need to have this incredible steadfast belief that is upheld perfectly in order for you to belong to a certain group or a club or guarantee you a ticket into heaven in the next life.
Faith is more than a mere platitude or trope, more than a standard. Rather, faith is about how to believe than what to believe. It’s about the small, necessary change, a minuscule shift in attitude, that behooves our adaptability where changes lies or a new encounter. Faith believes and lives in the hope that our ultimate reality, God, the Divine, is always on our side and understands intimately the fabric of the universe accessible to us.
Faith cannot be passive. So, how do you become faithful? How do you bring that sense of faith into a space of reality? How do you know if it’s real or not? How do you make that shift from dreaming to actuality? How do you know if what you’re experiencing is correct, true and the right or highest interpretation of reality? What if you’re getting it all wrong?
We must start here, right where we are with what we have and who we are. Just know there are always two sides to the coin of possibility. What’s rarely discussed but just as relevant is how possibility can become a prison you find yourself hopelessly trapped in while you don’t have the benefit of hindsight.
It can be empowering to dream about all the possibilities, the ways in which life will pan out, can and may happen. All the feelings and achievements that are waiting for you to chase them when this finally takes place can be intoxicating and cloud your lens of reality.
Dreaming about what life could be often makes us feel better in the moment but can paralyse us and limit our potential long term. We might get stuck in that dream like phase and become worried, afraid and frozen from making choices that turn possibility into being.
The dream is compelling and we are lulled into a sense of safety, cocooned warmly in what could be. We don’t want to leave dreaming behind nor face the risk that we were wrong and our dreams won’t translate exactly into reality. This can be a lot to bear.
For instance, you may dream of being a writer. You imagine what it would be like to write a book that is completely set apart from others, get it published, receive praise and validation from your peers and readers, travel to promote and talk about your novel and then bask in the impact and glory of your words and work. How fulfilling does that sound? Perhaps even more so than the very act of hard work that would get you to that stage of reaping the reward.
There is hard work in showing up to an empty page, stringing together words and concepts and ideas in a sensical and coherent fashion. Sending your work out there time and time again with the possibility of rejection or a negative response looking large and intimidating. The critique of the crowd can be loud and unabashed and drown out the quiet pats on the back and words of affirmation from friends. Reality can be more daunting than your imagine! You are not alone in feeling that way.
Here’s the reality check: for you to be okay as you are, here in the moment, some of these possibilities need to be banished, relinquished. Some of those dreams need backing and action. You need to wake them up once and for all. Other times, you’ll be required to submit to the choices you’re making, align with the direction you decide to leap in.
Your yes holds infinite power. It’s your intention, your courage, your energy. Any number of valid and relevant possibilities await your bravery, your choice, your yes, your leap. You just have to leave fantasy land and begin the humbling, courageous practice of changing what you can and handing the rest over to God. There is humility in this practice of being here, being where your feet are, taking consider rightful action. It’s more powerful than imaginary places you visit in your dreams. It’s your real life bounty.
So, you see, faith is the willingness to say yes in the here and now. To make a choice, a step and to take your dreams and give them breath, life and love. Here’s a mindful prompt: Every step of faith begins with initial awareness of where you are, what you have and who you are. It is simultaneously a humble and bold agreeance that where you are, what you have, who you are and more is enough but you can move beyond to further create and step into your rightful power.
💕💕💕 thank you for sharing
Thank you very much Fiona! Hope you’re keeping well x