Keeping The Faith, A Well-Being Must-Have

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have felt like I was lying in a ditch with a boulder sitting upon my head. No hope, no possibility of things getting better, everything sucked, LIFE sucked. Yet each time I felt so low, all kinds of things were happening to my body, so not only did I not feel good mentally, my body had no choice but to go with what my mind was broadcasting. The results? A deep depression that lasted as long as I replayed the thoughts that kept me down and entertained such a low, short-sighted view.

Continuing to spiral out found me falling to the bottom of an even deeper ditch when I suffered a nervous breakdown. Not only was I hurting mentally and spiritually, my body was in agony. There was a constant pain that started under my back ribs and as time went on, the ache wrapped around to the front. It hurt to breathe, to sit, to lie down or to walk, the pain was UNRELENTING. And forget about sleep. The cycle was wicked, the worse I felt, the worse I got. I wasn’t adding anything to the party to counter those negative thoughts and emotions.

I had lost and given up on Faith. And as a result, my Well-Being went dowwwwwwn the tubes.

They Tried, They Tried, OMG They Tried…

My poor friends. They tried real hard cheer me up, to make me happy. But no one can make you happy but YOU. We didn’t know this at the time so they kept on trying. On my 30th birthday, one of my BFFs threw me a small party in her studio apartment. I was miserable. Everybody was so excited to share the day of my birth but me. All I could think about was how miserable I was, how f—ed up my Life was and why was I even here on the planet? I wanted out and maybe I should do something about that…which I almost did a few months later.

I was so into my sorrow and suffering that I couldn’t see how much my friends hurt seeing me hurt, nor could I really Appreciate their efforts to bring Joy to me. But Joy won’t dance into a room that’s locked, your Heart must be open…

I had lost and given up on Faith. And as a result, Joy couldn’t enter. I saw nor entertained any possibilities of things getting better because I constantly told myself I had failed at Life. As I look back, that suffering was the classroom for my Transformation and Growth. I hold much Gratitude for my 30-year old and for the lessons taught and learned.

Keeping The Faith, the Antidote For Anxiety and Depression

We can all have moments of losing Faith, but when anxiety and depression take hold, those energies crowd Faith out. Faith gives us hope and glimmers of what could be, of what can be. Faith is the Light shining into the darkness. Faith is uplifting, is energizing. The more we exercise it, the more possibilities we can envision.

One of the definitions of to Keep the Faith is to remain optimistic about a person or situation, especially when faced with challenges. And a lot of the time, we lose Faith in ourselves and in our capabilities. We forget how incredibly awesome we are–we may never have been told that or if we have maybe it was followed by harsh criticism.

The more I got tired of feeling like shit all the time and the more I began entertaining other possibilities, the more I housed more Positive Thoughts. And the more I did those things, before I knew it, the depression had lifted. And when my Thoughts shifted, the physical pain became no more.

Now don’t get me wrong, the depression didn’t just go POOF on it’s own, there were other things in the mix like taking responsibility for my role and owning up to the choices I made and not holding others to blame. Figuring out what I wanted for myself based on my terms and not on what society, peers or my family said. Realizing that all things are temporary and while I hated someone telling me this, I began to see that ‘this too shall pass” is a true story.’ So I asked myself, ‘what would I like my world to look like?’

And I did (and still do) a great deal of non-blaming soul-searching. What do I want? What makes me Happy? I can co-Create that!

Keeping The Faith Lets You Know That You Aren’t a Failure or a Mistake

What Light does Keeping The Faith shine? It’s so bright it’s blinding! It carries you, it enables you to FLY. I began to see that I wasn’t a failure nor a mistake. That I was a Vibrant Being worthy of Joy, Happiness, Abundance, Prosperity and Good Health. That I was worthy of Well-Being. And I needed to just get on with it and claim it!

I began to see that Life is worthy of my active and Conscious participation. That I had to make changes in my Thoughts and Attitude to make the changes of what I wanted to see and to Experience in my Journey.

I began to understand that there are no mistakes. Not really. There may be things that occur not to my liking but mistakes, no. All is for my Growth and Experience. Everything.

That’s the Power of Keeping The Faith. It is TRANSFOMATIVE.

Some Take-Aways

When times are rough, you may feel lost and everything seems so dark. But you must not sink into despair. It does nothing to change the problem(s) it only makes things worse–going dark is not a problem solver but a problem compounder.

Oh yes, absolutely, feel what you feel and own it, ’cause sprinkling positive affirmations over the feelings doesn’t help as you’re only denying what is going on which delays the Healing. So don’t deny it, but don’t stay in that dark space, don’t make it your home. Visit, then get the hell out, the longer you sit in that dark place, the more energy it saps continuing to lower your frequency, heap on the stress, increase your anxiety. So with that diet of darkness, you jussssst keep on spiraling down, down down even lower.

See if you can pay attention when you are in the throes of darkness–what kind of thoughts keep pouring in? Like begets like, dark and negative thoughts plus feelings just draw in more dark and negative thoughts and feelings.

And don’t make your problems into your Identity because you are sooooo much more than the dark feelings and problems you have, you are soooo much more than any bad experiences you are undergoing. They are just Experiences, not Who You Truly Are.

So to those who are feeling fearful, worried, anxious, stressed and alone, get quiet, breathe deeply and remember to Keep The Faith. Lift Your head from sorrow and expect brighter days. Expecting the worse only perpetuates the worse to sit in your airspace…if You don’t Keep The Faith what else is there?

Uplifting Quotes to Help You Along The Way…

I just Love this quote from Jason Michael Ratliff:

“Faith is a light. You could be experiencing one of the darkest nights of the soul, lost, confused with no answers, no guidance. Those are all dark thoughts that we have had when we felt the most alone. But we escaped because we believed. That’s the power of faith. Can you let go and pull away from the darkness with forgiveness to self and trust that it will all work out? Don’t ask ‘if’, just hand it over to faith. The unknown is not a dark place. Faith lights the path ahead of you. That light will also provide support so you never will be alone. Light collects together to come to your aid and there is a glowing globe of protection surrounding you. It is a force field that cannot be penetrated by the darkness. It will accompany you whenever you feel loss of hope, have FAITH in it.”

The author Lailah Gifty Akita tells us, “Keep the faith and be hopeful for the future. Our best life is ahead of us.”

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.”– Helen Keller

And lastly, “Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.” Khalil Gibran

I could go on with these quotes, there are so many! What are some of your favorites?

In Closing

I say, Keep The Faith y’all, Keep The Faith. Trust. Expect. Breathe. Ask for help if need be. And open Your eyes…

There is much JOY, CREATIVITY and FREEDOM being realized. For many, there is a Rebirth and Regeneration. There are discoveries, realizations, Awakening. People coming together in Community.

Keep The Faith y’all… Keep The Faith.

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts and comments, please share them below…

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Your Wellness Guide