Faith

 

 

‘Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.’

-St. Augustine

 

‘Faith that the thing can be done is essential to any great achievement.’

-Thomas N. Carruthers

 

‘It takes vision and courage to create – it takes faith and courage to prove.’

-Owen D. Young

 

Take a moment and think about the last goal that you achieved.  The last time that you established a clear, measurable goal, and then achieved it.  It doesn’t matter how big or small this goal was, just something you set out to achieve.  If you are like me, this is a great memory that brings about a bunch of positive emotions.

 

Now, I would like you to remember everything that you did that helped you achieve this goal.  Remember every action and thought you took in pursuit of this goal.  Now, take a moment to remember all of the setbacks, difficulties, and negative thoughts that you overcame in your pursuit of this goal.

 

If you are like most human beings, the first exercise, remembering achieving a goal, was fairly easy.  The second exercise, remembering all of the details you encountered while achieving a goal, was a head throbbing, impossible exercise with millions of thoughts running through your mind.

 

I asked you to go through this exercise to prove a point.  Most of the time, the details aren’t that important.  Don’t get caught up in them.  Don’t let them derail you off course.  In retrospect, you will hardly even remember them.

 

Unfortunately, we often don’t pursue the things we really want in life because we just can’t see how we are going to get from here to there.  The goal seems so out of reach that we just can’t get our mind around all of the steps we need to take to get there.  We let the details stop us in our tracks, and we never get off of the ground.  In the early stages we hit some road blocks, we start doubting our ability to achieve.

 

I encourage you to take a different path.  Decide what you want in life and have faith that you will get there.  Obviously, your actions and habits are going to be essential to your achievement.  But, they mean nothing unless you have faith. 

 

Your faith will be challenged, just like it was during your pursuit of the goals you have already achieved.  Remember your achievements and believe that more achievement will come.   As the saying goes, the darkest hour is right before the sun comes up.  Don’t stop believing during the darkest hour.  Have faith that the sun will come up.

 

Kyle C. Ryan