We all tend to worry about certain situations in our life. We tell our friends how we are fearful that something is going to happen and it often causes us not to be able to focus on anything else. Did you realize that faith and fear ask us to do the same thing? They both ask us to believe in something that may or may not happen. In which direction do you turn your internal gaze, towards faith or fear?

In my previous article I discussed catastrophizing and how that causes us to spin out of control with fear, believing our worst-case scenario is going to happen. Unfortunately, in most situations our default thinking pattern is to focus on the negative and listen to that voice of fear. Ironically, most of the fears we worry about are situations we’ve dealt with in the past and we’ve not previously suffered from the outcome. In fact, some of those worries, that did come true, have launched us into our life’s purpose.

Faith is one of the most powerful attributes we can possess, but remember, it does not have to be religious. Think about it. Faith is essentially the essence of things we hope for but the evidence is not yet there. We hope for something to come true and feelings of elation and euphoria saturate our mind as we dream about what will happen and the positive outcome we are expecting. Conversely, when we fantasize about things we fear will happen, it fills us with dread, worry, doubt, and hopelessness. Logically, it is amazing that we would willingly choose to fill ourselves with those negative emotions when we have the choice to direct our attention to faith instead of fear.

Often people ask how to focus on the voice of faith. Remember, you already have so much data inside of you. You’ve experienced similar situations before and you overcame it. One thing people often do is they expect the worst because they’ve experienced negative things before. But remember if you isolate an event then of course its going to be negative, but look at the event like a movie scene. Play it out. It may have stung initially, but it opened up a bigger and a better opportunity later.  Even if your current situation doesn’t end the way you want it to you have to have faith that it will all work together in a beautiful tapestry of your life, and it will. Think of this fun example, you can’t have chocolate chip cookies without having each of the ingredients added in. Some of those ingredients, by themselves, are bitter, but when they are mixed together you have a tasty cookie. It wouldn’t be that good without some of those bitter ingredients (moments). Faith will always sustain you. It will remind you that in your life, the highs and lows, are all part of something bigger than what you can see.

When you remember that you are in control of your thoughts and emotions it puts the responsibility back on you to decide in which direction, faith or fear, do you focus. You have the ability to fill yourself with hope, joy, and happiness when you focus on faith. Conversely, you have the ability to fill yourself with doubt, worry, and dread by listening to fear. Which do you choose?

James Miller is a licensed psychotherapist who is known for his weekly international radio show, YouTube channel, and his Academy where he teaches virtual classes for successful people to simplify and transform their lives. For consultation or for more information visit: www.JamesMillerLIFEOLOGY.com.