Faith is a word that brings up different emotions for different people, so before we dive into this topic, let’s be clear…having faith does not necessarily mean you are religious or believe in a certain religion. According to Oxford dictionary, faith is a complete trust or confidence in someone or something. For many, this can mean God, Source, Infinite Being, Divine Source, Buddha, etc. The broad view…’complete trust’ implies that you’re putting your attention on something positive and realizing that we are connected to an infinite source of love, light and healing.
In the book, The Healing Power of Faith, patients with heart disease were found to be three times more likely to die following surgery than their spiritual counterparts. The author notes saying prayers regularly can be as effective as taking medicine, and discusses why prayer and medicine together are such a potent combination. So what is the reason for this…ever heard the saying “where your attention goes, your energy flows?”
Here’s the breakdown: Let’s say you’ve recently been diagnosed with a disease. Besides going through whatever treatment you decide to do, you basically have two choices in how to mentally approach the situation. You can worry, get fearful about the potential ‘what if (worst case) scenarios, lose sleep as your brain runs around in circles, and fall into ‘survival mode’ …thereby decreasing your immunity as you raise your cortisol levels. OR …You can decide to focus your attention on everything that elevates your mood and energy, enhancing your natural serotonin and feel good chemicals, positively impacting every cell in your body.
Being restricted from certain activities or feeling tired, you may decide to be grateful for the many things you still can do, seeing there are many others around you in even worse positions. You can trust that you’ll heal. You can look for the lessons to be learned from your current situation. You can choose to thrive and surround yourself with people that will constantly lift you up rather than ask about the progress of your disease.
The challenge is when things go wrong our analytical mind will gravitate to survival instinct rather than letting go of anxiety and surrendering to the notion that everything will work out just fine. You may say ‘that’s easier said than done’ and yes, that’s true. The reason is that over the course of your life you’ve literally wired your brain to follow certain thinking patterns and changing those takes effort and time. A great resource for additional information on rewiring your brain is Dr. Joe Dispenza.
“For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds,” says the Lord.
– Jeremiah 30:17
Three Keys to Staying Positive
1. Purpose that drives will power – I’m very familiar with this first approach. When I left my 20-year career in corporate America to start JOYVIAL my goal was (and still remains to this day) to play a significant role in ‘healing the world’. That purpose is way bigger than I am and, even in difficult times, has been giving me the will power that stokes my internal fire. When you have a strong ‘why’, a purpose that is bigger than you alone (e.g. wanting to grow old to be a role model for your grand-kids, or impacting your community on a larger scale…), will power can be a driving force.
2. Meditation – A few years back I asked a then 70-year-old man what the most important habit was that positively influenced his health and he said ‘meditation’. Today, three years later, I’d say the same thing. I can have a hectic day and my mind can be in overdrive worrying about the various ‘what if’ scenarios, but when I sit down to meditate, the world looks a lot less anxious and more optimistic. Shifting your attention from the external to your internal world has been proven to mellow down your analytical mind. This makes it a lot easier to calm the worrying voice and therefore allow you to focus on more of the good things in life.
3. Faith in God – In the last 41 years of my life I’ve been on all ends of the spectrum when it comes to my belief in God. Around age 7 or 8 I was an alter girl back in Austria, loving the white robe I got to wear feeling like an angel with my long blond hair. But as witnessed in many other places around the world my view of God was tainted by religion, the cold church atmosphere and the fire and brim stone mentality, so much so that I became an atheist. Just at the start of this year, 30 years later, were my eyes opened to the power of having faith in God.
Today as we go through challenging times, I believe God uses these struggles to shape us to who we are meant to become. Case and point – going through a heartbreaking divorce and deep depression 10+ years ago was the seed that led to me starting JOYVIAL. Having faith that today’s struggle are the seeds of something meaningful in the future gives me peace.
“My brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy. After all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and lacking in nothing.”
~ James 1-2
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