If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk,
if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do,
you have to keep moving forward.
Martin Luther King Jr.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines the word commitment as “a promise to give yourself, your money, your time, etc., to support or buy something.” We often make long standing promises to ourselves and to others, without fully understanding the fullest consequences of these promises. But how can we do that? How can we make such grand promises without any guarantees? We all know that life throws curve balls and no one can predict with full certainty anything in this world.
The reality of our world is that humans have to jump into commitments and promises without truly knowing that there will be a net there to catch us if things go badly. But without such commitments, we are at a standstill in life – there is no forward movement without risk. You name anything worth doing and it has risk – marriage, moving, new school, new business ventures, job hunts, etc – it is all exciting forward movement, but all require a jump into the unknown! Yikes! How do humans successfully navigate the uncertainty? Research in the field of psychology and religion reveals that spirituality and faith have been shown to be effective protective factors against the impact of life events on our overall well-being. Humans who are able to connect to their spiritual self, who can find meaning in hope and a faith beyond themselves, experience not only stronger mental health and resilience to trauma, but also greater outcome to physical ailments. Other studies have found that quantified levels of peace found in hope, faith and spirituality can mediate the trauma and complexity of life’s surprises. In other words, faith and hope are our strongest allies in this world of fear, doubt, and uncertainty. We have to rely on a moniker of faith when we make commitments into an unknown future. It is in this hope, spiritual well-being and faith that humans are able to gain perspective and connect to uncertainty with flexibility and creativity. Hope makes it possible for humans to operate beyond the today and jump into uncertainty needed to move into tomorrow. So the next questions becomes, how do I connect with my spiritual self? While every human is unique and every faith system encourages different avenues of connecting to their spirit, here are some general tried and true ways of expanding ourselves...
While humanity shares so many stories passed on through the generations of the importance of our spirituality, I find it fascinating to see how today's research has been able to sharpen its skill in quantifying and measuring this amazing realm of self. As you move forward in your life, I hope you are able to connect to your faith, hope and spirit to make the most out of what life has to offer! You can find more information on spiritual well-being at these resources:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHi! I'm Dr. Linda Abdelsayed. These are just some articles I've created on various life topics. Hope you find them helpful! Check out more about me on the About and Contact tabs above!
Archives
April 2024
|