Faith for the Future

Faith for the Future

When I think about Wishful Thinking, I think of the hope I have for tomorrow and for the future. The future is often something that generates excitement and a hopeful attitude. This excitement for the future is taken from an optimistic perspective. However, I find that often the future can make me anxious, nervous, and even afraid. The thought that we have no idea what could happen tomorrow, next week, or in the next five years, can be utterly terrifying. If you feel this way, I can guarantee that you are not alone.

Nature's Power To Soothe by Mindfulness & Clinical Psychology Solutions

Look at this picture. What do you see? You may just see a pretty image of the woods, with the sunlight peeking through. You may see yourself as the person taking the photo, and imagine being lost in the forest. You may even find yourself unable to tear your eyes from trying to see where the path in the woods is going.

If you see any of these, you are on the right track. I added this photo not to ask you a million questions about what you see, but to have you ponder where your mind goes when you see a photo like this.

This photo is a picture of the woods, but it can mean much more. This photo can represent the future. Sometimes we get so comfortable in our beautiful surroundings that we don’t think to look forward to what is ahead. We find ourselves lost in the woods of the unknown, and fearful of what is on the path we are heading down. We can never know for sure of what is down that path, we can only move forward one step at a time and choose to focus on the light that peaks through even the darkest corners.

It is normal to be fearful of the future, it is full of unknowns, what ifs, and shocking twists and turns, but that fear cannot stop us from moving forward. If we let our fear keep us from moving forward, we will stay exactly where we are and never change or grow. Life without change is not only boring, but it does not leave any room for growth as a person to prosper in life and experience new things.

As we look towards the future, while it may scare us at first, it is important to look forward with hope and faith in ourselves and our capability to accept future challenges, so that we can grow into who we are meant to be.

This week’s poem is entitled “Embargo”. I wrote this poem when I was afraid of what the future had for me. The thought that I had almost nothing figured out and so much change ahead of me left me full of fear, worry, and anxiety. I saw the mistakes others had made before me and I was scared to follow in the same footsteps. By changing my perspective to an optimistic point of view and focusing on the light instead of the shadows, I was able to find hope and joy for what was ahead of me.

Forbidden roads

lost in shadows

The search of light

on a path untraveled

Dew on grass

aside shaken ground

A single path

none dare follow

For fear

such that

no man should walk

No man should see

what the shaken ground of that path withholds.