The pessimist in any of us sort of refuses to believe that there is good all around us, just lying in wait. It refuses to see how much we are loved or wanted or appreciated.

I am two years into imagining what faith might look and feel like in my life, and a few weeks into operating as if it is my birthright as a human being on this planet, mainly because at this point, why the BLEEP not? And things have gotten a little messy, y’all.

We do the same thing with Nike, right? If LeBron James believes in Nike, then so can I. That’s hilarious.

The cynic in me can’t stand a good adage. The early bird gets the worm. Actions speak louder than words. You reap what you sow. When one door closes, another one opens… Yeesh, enough already with the timeless wisdom.

The key to it all is patience and a willingness to believe the Good out there in the world belongs to us and with us in our hearts and lives. If we allow ourselves that much every day, eventually everything changes.

Spoiler Alert:

There is no right way.

Sometimes, when it comes to faith, it’s hard to know when to “Let Go and Let God” without waiting on the world like a piece of lawn furniture, sitting, waiting, doing nothing.

If things are meant to be, its green lights all the way. If it isn’t, the Universe will tell us “no” as many times as it has to for us to get the message.

I have always been fascinated by people with hobbies, like putting model trains together or knitting. Where do they get the patience and fortitude to sit still and focus that long, when there are so many things to worry about in life?

I was driving around the other day (I do some of my best thinking in the car, if you haven’t noticed), and for a time I had this glimmer of what it feels like to operate in a world where everything works out.

I have to say, despite some real emotional turmoil lately, I still feel very good about the future. I still have a lot of faith in myself and positive outcomes. This doesn’t mean I walk around like some sort of insane, saccharine version of the Joker, always smiling, but with less makeup and violence.

Or at least, that’s what the cynic within would have me believe.

Learning how to have faith in positive outcomes is hard for those who do not just naturally do it. It takes a lot of mental energy to learn any new skill, but it also takes a lot of mental energy to keep making the same mistakes or keep worrying about what could go wrong. Either way, life feels hard sometimes.

Recently, someone very important to me basically said, “I don’t believe in you.” 

To say OUCH would be a gigantic understatement. 

For anyone reading this from a dark place, I can affirm that just the willingness to believe that you are worthy of Good, right from where you are, no matter how bad things have gotten, is all you need. It’s like opening a closed door just a crack to let in some light. Just leave the door open, and see what happens. 

Lately, despite some really heartbreaking circumstances, I have been trying to focus on a simple idea: if God wants someone or something in my life, that means it’s good for me. If that something or someone I am hoping to have around is not in my life, that means it’s not good for me.

So far it’s going… well… good.

For people like me, who were raised to worry, fear, and natter over everything that could possibly go wrong, believing in things working out or going right or people showing up in times of need kind of feels, sounds, and looks like absolute insanity. 

Earlier today, I was driving around marveling at the amount of local construction. Well, marveling isn’t the right word, at least not initially. I was grumbling. BLEEPING and moaning, even. Honestly, I was feeling downright irritable about the audacity of the local Department of Transportation. 

Having faith is hard… and it isn’t. It’s actually kind of annoying how very simple it is, because the struggle without it is so exhausting. When we are going through BLEEP, the cynic within is quick to find faith in Good pretty irritating.

It’s an incredible feeling, being aligned with Good, or God, or the Universe.