How I’m Building Faith in Myself

Faith leads the bold into the uncharted world

leaving behind the comforted gold

told by dreamers of past

that gold is what lasts

not grasping the richness of things not passed.

- Me

Faith in oneself is something I believe takes work. Hard, Intentional work. It's built in the foundations of ourselves. One that tends to corrode over time if we don't consistently tend to it. Praising ourselves, loving ourselves, questioning ourselves. But not just to go around in circles, but to really dig into the "why" of our being, our purpose. What gives us hope, what brings us joy. What causes us to go to bed full and wake up filled with energy before we even embrace the day?

I don't know the answers always, because I realize the source is constantly changing. My mind is constantly expanding, so to think that what I believed a year ago, still holds true today is maddening if every day over the course of the same year, I didn't check in with my thoughts, my body, my behavior. Faith in myself, to me, means trusting in myself to know who I am, every minute of every day and seeking the truest form of my being.  It means enjoying that journey and not relishing the growing pains that come along with it. It means asking myself questions that dig deep into my foundation and memories that I don't want to visit, but know I have to if I am to completely know who am and and why I am.

So I've been on a path of rebuilding faith in myself, love in myself, trust in myself. But I haven't been alone in doing this, there's been 3 key things that have kept me digging...

1. Creating an environment of introspection -
2. Asking "Why" and then sitting in the moment until I can craft an answer, then the harder part... asking "why" AGAIN.
3. Allowing myself to be vulnerable to others... but even more important - RECEIVING their vulnerability in return.

Those are just a quick list of how I've gotten to this point in building faith in myself over the past year and even more recently, the beginning of this year. I know it's not much to go on but maybe it'll stoke your thought fire and get you thinking just a bit more on what drives your own faith in yourself.

Maybe next week I'll go into these 3 keys some more, maybe even the books that help me along the way too?

Until then

LET'S KEEP GROWING!

Jamal Henderson