Have Faith

Why do we start off the new year with such grand plans? The cold, dark days just make it harder to maintain that sense of inspiration or build the momentum needed to achieve what we hoped to. Starting something too big too fast, in the wrong environment, will almost definitely set us up for failure and that experience of failure is enough to put most people off from trying again. Whatever your definition is of success, finding and sustaining a feeling of hope is crucial to getting us there and this is what we need to focus on more than anything else.

Humans are designed for survival, not happiness, and we learn about the world and ourselves through our experiences. Therefore we can’t just get hope out of nowhere, it has to come from experiencing a challenge which through some sort of process has a positive result. Having this happen lots of times in different ways is what helps people to find and sustain hope in themselves and the world around them and is what will make them more likely to do what they need to do to succeed and tolerate setbacks they face. So if you are struggling to get to where you want to be, setting this groundwork is the best place to start.

I find that learning and understanding about people who are different to me is the best way to learn and understand myself. In my day job as a music therapist I recently started working with someone who is a Christian, and so I spent some time learning some religious songs to sing in our sessions. I noticed that the lyrics were about how God is faithful, and this was a concept that I really didn’t understand so I asked some Christian friends what this concept meant to them and they explained that just like in a marriage, being faithful is a way of showing commitment and belief in each other, so in this religious context God is faithful to people by the things He does. I am not a religious person, or married, but I started to reflect on what things I have in my life that I am faithful to.

I have faith in science. I believe that scientists are continuously working hard to uncover the truth of the world and develop new amazing technology to maximise on this knowledge. I show my faith in science by trying to learn and question what I know and following advice from people who know more than me.

I have faith in music. I have seen for myself how music changes people’s lives for the better time and time again. I show my faith in music by choosing a career where I use music to help people, and listening to and creating my own music.

I have faith in people. I believe that if a person has what they need in life they can do amazing, kind things. I show this faith by seeking out people who show me respect and inspire me and I do what I can to return the favour.

Even though these things aren’t perfect, this faith has served me well throughout my life and has made me a positive person with a strong sense of self worth and belief in my potential to become the best version of myself I can. I show faith in myself, i.e. commitment and belief, every single day whether that is by putting on my boxing gloves or setting up a business or making new friends. Because of this faith I have already achieved what I intended to this year, and this has given me fuel to keep going and succeed in more and more diverse and wonderful ways.

So have faith in yourself, show yourself commitment, belief, respect, and those positive experiences will start building up and will contribute to a successful year.