A life without faith is a life without authenticity

Each one of us has a unique gift or expression to share with the world. To realize and share this gift of service is to be your authentic self. And, to share this gift you have to have faith in yourself. If you don't have faith, you will not impart the fullest expression of your gifts on the world. Instead you and your gifts will be at the whim of external circumstance and the perspective of others. In a society bent on reason and facts, one can become hindered by possibility only as history can teach us. With faith, one can open oneself to possibility hindered only by one's imagination. Which, really, is possibility without limit.

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” —Albert Einstein

Any great creator or inventor or founder of a business or product that reshaped society had great faith in themselves.

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." — Steve jobs

And, even more explicitly:

"Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith." —Steve jobs

Faith, belief, trust all are pointing to the same thing here: knowing that something can happen before it happens. Despite any lack of evidence or precedence or naysayers—or even a brick to the head.

“You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” —Michael Jordan

The realm of possibility does become clearer or easier when there is precedence. Take the four minute mile. Or the Barkley Marathons. Once the undoable was done, it opened the floodgates for others to accomplish it as well. Once the 4-minute mile was finally broken, it was broken again and again within the weeks, months and years that followed. Yet, the second person to do a four minute mile, knowing it was possible because someone else did it, still had to have faith that they could do it. And the first person to run a four minute mile? They just had to fucking do it.

This is the power of faith. The reason so many religions taught (still teach?) faith is not to adopt a doctrine per se, but to develop trust in a benevolent and loving universe. If you fully trust in life itself, you will not have fear: not fear of failure nor other people’s opinions. This lays the foundation for pursuing your authenticity—your unique gifts that want to be expressed in this lifetime. And, by most accounts, failure is an inevitable part of that creative process—you'll need faith to keep pushing through failures.

“There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.” —Brené Brown

Each of us has something innate that wants to be expressed. Yet, in many cases, it is hidden deep behind layers of conditioning, beliefs about how life “should be”, fears etc. It may even be hidden behind expectation—we aren't all here to revolutionize personal computing or be the best basketball player. Each of our masterpieces is utterly unique.

“If you go to your grave without painting your masterpiece, it will not get painted. No one else can paint it.” —Gordon MacKenzie

So, how does one cultivate faith? At some point, you just have to do it. To not fear at all would be reckless. Instead, courage suggests taking action despite fear—not ignoring fear, or sweeping it under the rug, but being fully aware of it and facing it head on.

“Real fearlessness is the product of tenderness. It comes from letting the world tickle your heart, your raw and beautiful heart. You are willing to open up, without resistance or shyness, and face the world. You are willing to share your heart with others.” —Chogyam Trungpa

As always, I'd love to hear how this resonates with you. How have fears of this nature shown up in your life? Where in you life could you possibly use more faith? Do you feel you've uncovered your authentic expression or gifts?

P.S. Next weeks issue will be delayed.