Like many of us, I have long hated being alone. I have spent a lot of time going out of my way to create social activities or make plans or occupy my time with others, often to the point of exhaustion.

I think one of the wonderful things about faith is that in some ways it limits our options and in other ways it allows us to flourish beyond our wildest dreams.

I believe there is no wrong way to have faith, just like there is no wrong way to clean a house. Everyone does both a little differently, and things will get worse before it gets better, but if we are focused on having faith, that really is just a sign that we are making progress.

Sometimes, faith becomes a last resort for people when it comes to solving problems or soothing pain. It’s too bad, because in some ways it may be the most effective.

In the New Age, self-help world, there is a lot of talk about “resistance” to the Universe or God or Good or the power of manifestation. In therapy, resistance is akin to self-sabotage. They are similar ideas seen from different angles.

Basically, we put barriers between ourselves and love, success, happiness, connection, and peace all the time.

Fortunately for you, dear reader, I have nominated myself as a spiritual guinea pig, so I am going to test this theory out… One can only imagine what kind of positive hell might break loose.

Pray for me.

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.