keeping the faith.

Faith may signify a relationship with a higher power, a particular religion, a spiritual following, or none of the above. Faith is a personal belief; it's having confidence and trust in something. And that something can be anything you chose.

Regardless of our individual beliefs, faith is what allows us to keep moving forward during times of uncertainty, confusion, and pain. We must confidentally believe that everything will work out. We must truly internalize that everything happens for a reason. We must trust deep down that timing is everything. 

Faith has this incredible way of changing our perspective. Rather than approaching a painful situation as simply life's way of wreaking havoc on us, we can use it as a reminder to appreciate how blessed we are when the going is good. We can see a challenge as a means of making us stronger people. And hardships as the best teachers of life; allowing us to move forward with the courage to take on whatever comes next.

Often times it isn't until the going gets tough that we recognize the importance of faith. Yet faith shouldn't just be something to carry us through the life's lows. Faith is about embracing whatever life throws in our path, whether good or bad. Being thankful for the little things. Testing our personal limits when we're faced with a terrifying obstacle. Believing that with a whole lot of perseverance, we can push through anything. We can experience and embrace joy. We can transform any situation into something worth believing in. We earn our happiness through sacrifice and hard work. We, as absurd as it may sound, earn life's challenges so that we don't become complacent. Give up the illusion that you will ever have a problem-free life. Rather than being disappointed by that reality, look at it as our one-way ticket to something better in the future. Because for every challenge we overcome, our faith will grow. We have the opportunity to believe in ourselves and in life, simply by internalizing faith. We can make peace with every one of our experiences. It's our faith that will allow us to look to the future with nothing but positive thoughts and big dreams. Dreams that will be reached by having faith.