Faith is not3 min read

For me, there is nothing more important than faith. Faith carries everything else forward. Faith is neither waiting nor hoping; but entirely believing.

We know that there are ups and downs in life – both highs and lows. We know that we will feel differently – better or worse – in different moments and when presented with different circumstances. Plenty of external things are constantly changing, and it’s important we change too.

However, a few things shouldn’t change or falter. This is where faith comes in. I’m not talking about religious faith, but having faith as a choice – a decision to believe entirely in an outcome. Having faith is about being at your best, most average, and lowest points, or anywhere else on the confidence spectrum and still having complete belief in the importance of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

I believe this is the key to being truly successful.

Success is defined in a variety of ways. For me, the successful person is the happy person. Who is the happy person? I believe that the happy person is the one who knows what makes him/her happy and works hard to experience or have as much of this as possible. I am grateful to have been successful, by my own definition, and to have worked and volunteered with many incredible charities.

I credit my success to lots of different things: hard work, consistency, determination, grit, creativity, passion, and drive, to name a few. However, none of these hold any weight in the long-term without faith.

My faith has been the most important aspect of my success, because I’ve lost count of how many opportunities there have been to settle, to give up, or to stop trying. Without such faith in the decisions I have made and the paths I’ve chosen to take, I would not be where I am today.

Steve Jobs said lots of important things; lots of things worth listening to, but one of his quotes in particular sticks out for me.

Jobs said: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well worn path; and that will make all the difference.” He didn’t say: “you should hope things work out” for a reason.

Jim Carrey said something similar: “why not take a chance on faith? Not hope, but faith? Hope tries to walk through the fire and faith leaps over it.” Both men often said that their drive was to work towards and take part in the things that contributed to their happiness.

Typically, when you want to achieve something, chances are it’s not going to be easy. So, if you want to be successful, by my definition or by yours, people aren’t going to push you or keep you on track. In fact, it’s often the opposite. So, you have to have faith in whatever it is you’re doing and its importance.

Grit and determination are short term behaviours; faith is for the long-term.

For me, there’s nothing more important than unfaltering faith.