Faith versus fear.

Have you ever wanted to do something, but when you thought about it, you felt shivers of fear race through your body? You were convinced something would go wrong. Instead of trusting that everything would go well, and holding onto faith, you went to the other side. The dark side.

Most of us have experienced moments of fear. The fear of the unknown. The fear caused by “what if” thinking. The fear associated with worry and concern that things will go wrong.

It’s easy to go down this path and once you start, often hard to stop.

We get caught up in our negative thinking and don’t realize the scary words we say to ourselves are contributing to our fear. Once it starts, it’s hard to tame. Instead of having a positive outlook, expecting things to go well, we think about the worst possible scenario and convince ourselves we’re headed that way.

Then there’s faith, the ability to believe deep in your soul that things will turn out OK. Trusting everything will go well. Having confidence that all will be fine.

How do you use faith to turn your fearful thoughts around?

You have to actively decide to believe.

Believe that things will work out well. Trust everything will be OK.

Recently, I was traveling alone and had to admit, a little fearful. I was taking a train and a plane and trying to piece together a lot of different places I needed to be. I was also a bit anxious about a meeting I was having.

There was a lot that could have gone wrong. I could have given in to fear. I could have let myself worry about all the things that might go wrong. I could have stressed about the details and sabotaged my enjoyment of the experience.

Instead, I decided I would intentionally have faith that everything would work out well.

Each time my mind started to go down the worry path, I noticed it and then reminded myself to trust everything would be OK.

Guess what happened? I was more relaxed and more joyful. I had more fun and felt lighter. I didn’t carry around a bag of anxiety induced thoughts. Instead, I allowed myself to make the most of the time I had.

Either way, I was going on this trip alone. Either way, I was going to have this meeting.

The morning of the trip, as I felt nervous, I looked into the mirror and said to myself, “Everything is going to work out well. You’re going to have fun. Have faith. Trust. Believe.”

And, that’s what I did. When I found myself having a worry thought, I noticed it and then reminded myself of our little conversation. Instead of bringing myself down, I picked myself up.

The next time you find yourself doing something that causes you a little stress and anxiety, try to intentionally decide to have faith. Expect good things to happen. Most of the time things do work out.

Instead of feeling fearful, anticipate everything going well.

I realize there will be times when life deals me a dose of something I don’t want. It’s happened before and it will happen again. However, most of the time things work out well and there’s no sense in worrying about what could or might happen.

Live your life expecting the best. Most of the time, that’s what you will get.

Find meaning each day,

Dara