Braving the Hot Mess
Check out Braving the Hot Mess on Facebook
  • Blog
  • My Story
  • Documentaries and Videos Worth Your Time
  • Books I Love
  • Vegan Recipes
  • Meditations
  • Affirmations
  • Tracy's Upcoming Events
  • Contact
  • Testimonials

How To Create A Faith Statement

12/20/2017

4 Comments

 
Picture
I recently read a blog post by one of my favorite spiritual teachers, Gabby Bernstein, on creating a faith statement. I had never considered the need to create a faith statement in the past, but now that I've given it some consideration I can see the value in it. Similar to the value of creating a mission statement, a vision statement, a goal statement, or a values statement. All of these serve a valuable purpose. What better time to review and/or create one than the beginning of a new year?

Personal statements like these serve as great reminders to keep us on path, to keep us centered and focused on what matters. As we enter into a new year, I invite you to take a moment to consider whether having a personal faith statement would serve you. If the answer is yes, consider using Gabby's technique as a guide. 

There are many approaches to creating your own personal faith statement. Most that I've seen include references to God, Jesus, the Bible, etc. The process that Gabby leads you through in her post is quite different. I found her method to be a useful tool and wanted to share it with you. This can serve as a nice reference to creating or reviewing your own faith statement. You can modify it and include other items that are personally important to you and your faith. 

Here is an excerpt from Gabby's blog post on creating a faith statement.


In my new book I have an exercise where we create a faith statement. I believe that creating a faith statement is imperative to trusting that we’re being guided. This statement is about what our spiritual relationship means to us on a gut level.

The practice of creating a faith statement goes like this. If we want to co-create with the Universe, we need a great amount of faith in our connection to it. So the exercise begins with a question:

What would your life be like if you knew you were being guided?

Take a moment to write down the answer. There is no right or wrong answer — write down whatever comes to mind. 

Next, answer this question: What would you do differently if you knew the Universe had your back? 

Then answer this: Do you have spiritual proof that the Universe is in fact guiding you?

If nothing springs to mind, that’s totally fine! (If you’re new to this whole co-creating thing, you likely have never even thought to pay attention.) Even if it’s not directly related to you today, you can lean on the guidance other people have received and strengthen your faith.

Feel the faithful energy that the story, whatever one you thought about/wrote down, ignites. Take a few moments to tap into the feeling of that faith. Then answer: How does it feel to be in faith? What does faith give you the freedom to do and be? Get honest! Don’t hold back. Let it flow.

Now you’re ready to create your faith statement. We want to make a faith statement that ignites love and joy and enthusiasm and excitement when we read it.

Here is Gabby's faith statement:

I know that the Universe is an ever-present energy field of love. I know that when I align with the energy of love through thoughts, actions and beliefs, I am given infinite support and guidance. I know that I can co-create my reality with this loving presence so that I can live in joy and spread light.

Now you are ready to revisit all the answers that you wrote down and free-write your faith statement. Start with “I know” or “I believe.” Let it move through you. Trust it. Don’t edit a word.

When you’re done writing, read what you’ve written. Take out the 3 or 4 sentences that move you to tears — that is your faith statement.


In addition to Gabby's suggestions, consider pondering the following additional questions: 

-What does faith mean to me?
-What does having faith feel like?
-What is it that you have faith in?

I believe that everything is more powerful when it starts with faith. The door is opened for the best things to occur when you let go of your fears and hesitations and just move forward with faith. This can be challenging to do. Faith takes practice, it's like a muscle that you can strengthen through practice.

Faith is about trusting the journey. Believing that there's a plan. Within this plan there are lessons and choices. Faith is about being in a place of yes. Trusting your instincts and sense of knowing that what you believe will unfold. Faith is about letting go, surrendering control and fear and living in a place of trust.

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. If you have faith then you have hope, if you have hope, then you have love.


One of my favorite verses from the Bible is Matthew 17:20, He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
4 Comments

Reflection

12/19/2017

1 Comment

 
Picture
As the year is coming to a close a lot of us start looking toward the new year and contemplating our new year's resolutions and determining our goals for the new year. Before we look toward next year, I think it's a good idea to have closure with the current year by going through a mental or written exercise of reflection.

Here are some things that I recommend reflecting on:

1. What am I grateful for that transpired this past year? Big, small and everything in between. What are all of the things that come to mind that you are grateful for? This gives us some nice perspective as we are reflecting on the year.

​2. What did I do, create, or experience this year that I'm really proud of? This can be in any area of your life. List out all of the accomplishments and experiences that you are proud of that happened this year. Work through month-by-month or pull out your calendar and take a look at the daily entries to help jog your memory. You may be surprised at how many you come up with.

3. What mistakes did I make and what did they teach me? What lessons did I learn that I can leverage from? What was the meaning in those mistakes and lessons? Maybe it's something that's not concrete, like patience, or compassion, or forgiveness. 

4. What am I willing to let go of? What am I currently disciplined to that I desire to let go of? What habits, routines and disciplines are serving me and which ones are not? What old story do I want to rewrite and replace with a new story? An exercise I love that helps me to create the new story is to play the "imagine if" or "what if" game. When playing the "imagine if" and "what if" game there are no limitations, no rules, no restrictions, no logic. You get to freely create using your imagination what you would like the story to look like. 

I think it's healthy to productively reflect. To productively look back for a bit before setting it aside and moving forward. Not getting stuck in the past, just looking at it to savor the positive and learn from the challenges.
​
​
How are you feeling about the new year? I know a lot of us have mixed feelings as we are looking out at our world. We want to change, we desire change. How is that change going to happen for you? Are you willing to be the change that you want in the world? Are you willing to do your part to create the change in your own life, in order for that to ripple out into the world? Consider these items as you are closing out this year and looking toward the next. 


As the year comes to a close spend some time in reflection. Grab yourself a cup of hot tea or cocoa, sit by the fireplace, wrap up in a warm cozy blanket and reflect on the year as it is closing. Savor the year. You've been on this earth one more year in time, what did it mean to you? 

Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season! Enjoy, be well, be happy!

1 Comment

You've Got This, You've Totally Got This

12/11/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Are you feeling rushed, stressed, anxious about the holidays and everything you still need to get done? This time of year can feel overwhelming with all the gift buying and wrapping, the decorating and cookie baking, the Christmas cards and holiday parties, the to do list can seem endless! Sometimes we rush through the experience feeling exhausted and not really even enjoying the season. 

I invite you to exercise some self-care and for just a moment take a deep breath. Slow down just for a few minutes, relax your shoulders, relax your jaw, take another deep breath. Center yourself just for a moment and breathe deeply. Roll your shoulders forward a few times and backward a few times. It's all good, you've got this, you've totally got this! Inhale in the smells of the holidays and exhale out the busyness.

Maybe you want everything to be picture perfect, please know that it doesn't have to be. If you are feeling really stressed, what can you let go...besides your sleep? Can you skip one batch of cookies? Can you pass on scrubbing the kitchen floor? What can you let go to make life a little easier, so you can enjoy more and stress a little less?

​I invite you to savor the holiday times together, to reflect upon the real reason for the season, to look at it through the lens of a child. Look at your family and friends, the twinkling lights, the food and the treats all with child-like wonder, child-like awe, child-like curiosity, excitement and the belief in miracles. 

I invite you to stop and take a moment to be grateful. Express your gratitude for all of the many blessings in your life. What do you have right now in this moment to be grateful for? Let that be your focus, center on that. 

I invite you to practice loving kindness. To perform lots of random acts of kindness, people can use it this time of year. There are a lot of people who struggle during the holidays. Now is a great time to be of service to others. Small gestures of kindness can change the trajectory of someone's day. It can be as simple as a warm smile, holding open the door, being patient with a sales clerk, or delivering a plate of cookies. 
​
As you are busying through the next few weeks, I invite you to take several moments to exercise self-care and to take a deep breath. Center yourself and soak in the moment. Be present,  savor what you are doing, what you are creating, what you are enjoying, what you are grateful for. Stop, look and listen to all of the lights, the beauty, the sounds and smells all around you. Savor the moment, just for a few minutes at least, and breathe deeply. Inhale in the smells of the holidays and exhale out the busyness. You've got this, you've totally got this!
0 Comments

Opportunity For Joy

12/5/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
I am a huge believer in the power of the practice of gratitude. I have written about it many times and love speaking to the impact it has had on my life. Gratitude has become a way of life for me, it is a way of living and a way of choosing to view the world. 

Gratitude is on my heart today with the holiday season and the issues we are facing in our world. As I am working toward building awareness for homelessness, as I am watching the news, as I am aware of challenges facing loved ones, gratitude is on my heart, mind and soul. 

It can be hard to be grateful for things that are happening right now if the things that are happening are bad. Brother David Steindl-Rast author of, Gratefulness The Heart Of Prayer,  states, “At every moment life gives you the opportunity to do something with what life gives you. Grateful living means learning that most of the time it’s the opportunity for joy. An opportunity to enjoy the fact that you can see, that you can walk that you can breathe."

Brother David Steindl-Rast goes on to explain that we should see everything as an opportunity. He believes that the current challenges that society faces is a huge opportunity. He explains, "It is a moment in time that is calling each and everyone of us to step into this opportunity. It is a gift, a great gift. We have the opportunity to stretch even further than people have ever stretched before. An opportunity to stretch to understand each other more, to listen to each other more. To come to a common hope."
​

He further explains that trust in life is the beginning, "It’s the foundation. We can withhold trust or we can give it. Even though I don’t see it right now in the midst of this challenge, I trust that life will give me good things. If we look back on our life, even the worst things that happened to us turned out to be life-giving. Stop, be present, and ask what is the opportunity that life is giving me at this moment and how can I enjoy it?"

Wowza, that can be a big challenge at times can't it? It has really helped me to trust in life and to have faith, even if I can't be grateful for it at the moment I can exercise faith and trust. I can attest to the growth and the opportunity within the challenge. Trust that life will give me good things, be grateful for those things, and choose the opportunity for joy. 

Gratitude serves as an offset to the negativity. It opens up the opportunity for joy, for love, for hope, for compassion, and for forgiveness. Gratitude holds the power to change the lens through which we see the world. Let's all serve up some additional helpings of gratitude this holiday season. Let's stretch ourselves over the holidays and seek to understand each other more, to listen to each other more, to find the opportunity for joy, for love, and for hope.


“Daily it becomes clearer to me, gratitude is the celebration of love, just as love is the lived yes of joyful mutual belonging. Gratitude celebrates life with a joyful yes and every knot of the great network in which everything is connected to everything.”  Brother David Steindl-Rast.
0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Archive 

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Picture

      Please sign up to receive weekly new blog posts. 

    Submit
Proudly powered by Weebly