Faith in What We Need Most

We have to change to grow

And we have to grow to fully live.

But which comes first? Growth or change? Do they simultaneously happen?

This was my chosen intention for the first of the year yoga class--to focus on growth in faith and love this year. Perhaps one of the things we are missing the most in my generation is faith; faith in each other, faith in life, and faith in love.

We live in a generation that tells us to protect our hearts, and be weary of the faith it takes for commitment. We are to go out, seek companionship without commitment or intimacy, and this is what will make us smart and valuable human beings. I sit and talk with my grandparents who will celebrate their 64th wedding anniversary this August and think we are the ones missing out.

Believe me, I am a huge advocate for the individual to seek their own identity and self love. I believe men and women should equally be in search of meaning and significance in their lives and work. We individually need to have faith in ourselves and our own spirituality in order to share it with someone else--but that sharing is what we have no idea how to do.

In a conversation with Ranger, what came out of my mouth was, "Giving yourself completely to someone and committing with your whole heart is the most courageous thing you can do". I had never heard myself feel that, but the truth in the statement is astounding. We have little control when it comes to love--which is why many of us are uncomfortable with it. We would rather control it by not falling--by not giving--by not having faith--than tumble into the unknown. When you choose to accept someone in your heart exactly as they are--under no conditions, no regrets, and no resentments--you become the embodiment of faithful bravery. The kind of bravery Atticus Finch would be proud of.

It almost seems like when you release vulnerability it isn't met with liberation or vindication--but rather with chagrin and vexation. Rather than believing the person who lays all their cards on the table to be foolish and worthy of pity--perhaps we should pity those who don't or can't--either reciprocally or in imitation. We have to have love to survive, and we have to have companionship to survive. Even though I am the beautifully and perpetually single friend amid marriages and births--I have not lost sight of the importance of it. And so I think we have to adapt, we must CHOOSE love and CHOOSE to put effort into connecting souls, otherwise we will be the ones to miss out.