Belief

Three Haikus on life and faith.

Believe in Divine

For I know not what is true

Faith is hard to keep

--

What if life's a dream?

Does any of this matter?

Still scared to crumble

--

That's what's strange

Tomorrow could be my last

Would it be a shame?

--

The Haikus.

I've had my ups and downs in life. I've struggled with depression and low self-esteem for years. But over time, I've come to realize that loving yourself is the foundation for everything in life. It took me some time to know this...to truly know it. And I'm still growing every day with this concept. Some days are easier than others. One concept that truly stood out to me was the idea of believing. Believing that things happen for a reason. I think things happen for a reason, and if you're a good person things will work out the way they're supposed to. Maybe that's cheesy. Maybe that's lame. But what purpose does it serve to think of it in a negative light?

Now, don't get me wrong. Things working out doesn't necessarily mean sitting on your ass, doing nothing, and magically everything just happens.

I'm talking about taking positive action in your life to become the best version of yourself possible. This shit takes time and patience. They don't call it growing pains for nothing. But to truly grow, you need to suffer a bit; to build character. Nevertheless, there's a reason we have certain experiences, and we can only hope to grow from them, both the good and the bad.

The first line, and much of what I'm referencing here, is a concept from the book "Many Lives, Many Masters." If you haven't read it, it's worth a read. The book essentially explains that this life we live--and there are many we experience--has a lesson, or multiple lessons, we need to learn from. One take away that stood out to me was religious people more or less having the right idea when it comes to faith. To believe.

I'm not a religious person, if anything I'm spiritual, but I like the idea of believing things will work out the right way. And that everything happens for a reason. There is something to the idea of believing that if life is shit, and that only bad things happen to me, then that's exactly what will happen.

So the concept of believing in the Divine is to trust that the universe will give me the everything I need, good and bad, at the right time. However, sometimes it's hard to have faith when things don't always go according to plan. When you don't get the girl or the new job. Sometimes it's the hardest thing to have faith, and that's what this haiku is all about: the difficulty in faith. Does it actually matter? Who knows. But I think, since we only have this one life, right here, right now, that we need to embrace this faith, live in the moment, and be the best person you can be.

-JTC