35
Lately, the concept of patterns has been on my mind quite a bit. I think the most useful component to having faith in Good or God, once we get over the sheer insanity of a willingness to believe, is that it gives us hope for a better future. That hope allows us to really look at the things that have been holding us back for a long time.
When life seems immutable or patterns seem permanent, there can be a learned helplessness that goes along with it. Why bother trying to change if life is always going to be miserable? Who cares if we are being treated poorly or making poor choices when the outcome is always the same? It’s easy to stay stuck when we feel stuck. It’s easy to make the same choices over and over and expect a different result (the definition of insanity for some).
Having a little hope and a little help in the form of faith makes it feel better and safer to take a good, hard look at ourselves and actively work with God or Good on solving some of our problems. If we think we may be deserving of or destined for some Good in the near future, we may just be willing to confront the reality of our own role in any number of problems. It’s not always easy to break through the denial and claim responsibility for our mistakes, questionable choices, or counterproductive behavior, but it is easier if we think change is possible.
Louise Hay writes about having a willingness to change our patterns, whether it be in work, life, or love. I highly recommend her book, You Can Heal Your Life, because it provides useful exercises to work with the Universe on letting go of patterns in the name of living a better life. Sometimes, the willingness to just look at our own role in the dysfunction in our lives is enough to change everything. With that willingness and a little faith that we are destined for better or different things, we have the opportunity to release long-held habits, make different choices, and change dynamics.
As we change, the things around us change. It may not be comfortable for everyone, including ourselves, but I think the factor of faith renews our hope in a different outcome, and makes committing to changing a pattern or habit a little easier. All this change doesn’t, can’t, won’t happen overnight, but the willingness, hope, and opportunity to do things differently is kind of all that matters.