Faith

What religion or you? What do you believe in? I have been asked these questions before and they kind of made me uncomfortable. But not uneasy for the reasons you might think.

I have enormous faith but in an organization or religion that may not be considered 'mainstream'. I am a Buddhist. Having moved from California to Virginia over four years ago it was quite a religious and cultural change. Meaning, I did not feel that I could be as open about my own faith as MANY of my coworkers, strangers, grocery store clerks, bank tellers, etc. were. With there consistent greetings of "God bless you" or "Have a blessed day" it was not until moving here have I found MORE people so open and public about their faith and religion. Still I was not comfortable sharing my own.

Having felt like I have lived on the outskirts of society for the majority of my adult life this situation regarding my religious faith seemed to be just another reason to detach from people. But here is what I have discovered, although there are numerous people that are hypocritical regarding religion, i.e. only their religion is the only 'right' one; I have grown stronger in my own.

I am no longer living on the edge of society, I am embracing my faith, my religion, my life and the immense joy it provides me. I know now that I was meant to share my joy, love and compassion.

I do have a resolution this year and it is to continue to have faith in myself. It is to have the faith to be the very best human being that I can be. Then it is to allow the joy of THAT faith to be a beacon, to drawn loving and wonderful people into my life and surround them with compassion and love.

So what do you have faith in?