Faith
Some people define faith as a belief in something for which they have no evidence for. Others think of faith as a set of religious beliefs. These are limited uses and understanding of faith. Faith is a force. Think of it as a life force energy that you direct, consciously or unconsciously. It is a force you use every day. People and use faith every day in ways that are very real and practical but hardly notice. This force of faith that you use has profound impact on your thoughts, emotions, and behavior.
People use faith when they exchange money. A dollar has value largely because people believe it has value. People have invested faith in the idea that dollars can be traded for food, gas, clothing, services, and other things. Because other people also have faith in this same use of money it works and appears to be truth.
We put our money in a bank because we have faith that a bank is a safe place for our money. When people have fear and doubts about the safety of that bank their faith dissolves. Or, more specifically, they invest faith in the idea that the bank is unsafe. Then they withdraw their money. If enough people withdraw their money from a bank, it can collapse. Even if the bank is solvent it can collapse because people no longer have enough faith in the bank. You could say that the strength of a bank is more dependent on faith of people than the actual balance sheet of the bank.
The price of a stock is largely determined by faith. People will value and pay for a stock dependent on what is their BELIEF. Faith is the force that makes that belief strong. If people lose their faith in that company, then they sell their stock. The action of selling stock is determined by where they invest their faith. The value of a stock is determined by the faith people have in the value of a company stock. You could say that the whole stock market is held up by the power of the faith people have in its overall worth. That’s why prices of stocks and the whole market can change so quickly. When people shift what they have their faith in things can change quickly. When you change what beliefs you have invested faith in your life can change very quickly.
The value of stock, a piece of real estate, a dollar, euro, or peso is largely a matter of faith. They are worth what people “believe” they are worth. Only when other people believe the same thing does that belief appear real. When people no longer put the force of their faith behind the value of a stock the price falls. More precisely we can say that they have taken their faith out of the “idea” that the stock’s value. People don’t invest their faith in a stock, but rather in the idea of a stock’s value. Then they put their money in the stock based on how much faith they invested in the idea of value for that stock. If you see this relationship it becomes clear that our actions are based on the power of faith we have invested in ideas.
Faith Impacts How We Feel
Faith in yourself can give you a feeling of confidence. If you believe that you can do something, you have faith in your ability and you produce a feeling of confidence. When you doubt your ability, you are also investing faith. You invest your faith in the ideas and images that you will fail, and that people will judge you. When you put faith in those ideas and images you create emotions of fear or insecurity. In both cases, you are expressing the energy of faith. It is just that you express it into different conceptual ideas, outcomes, and self-images and this produces different emotions.
Suppose you did something in your past and later wish you hadn’t done it. If you invest faith in that idea then you will create emotions of guilt. If you invest faith in the idea that you are a bad person for what you have done then you will create emotions of shame. Guilt is an emotion based in something you have done, while shame is an emotion based in a belief about what you are. The strength of the emotions you feel will depend on how much faith you have in these ideas about your self. With the force of faith you can create these emotions within your self even if the story is not true. But by creating these feelings the story will feel true.
Most everything you feel about yourself derives from the faith you invest in various ideas about yourself. Two people could have the same experience of hardship and failure, but invest their faith in opposite interpretations about what would happen next time. One might believe he will fail again, while the other person might invest faith in the idea that she will do better next time because of her commitment or what she learned. Failure didn’t determine how a person felt, but rather what ideas they invested their faith in did. Each person is using the energy of faith and investing it in one belief or another about themselves and the future. Each creates a different belief system, and produces different emotions. One person will become more focused committed and feel confident,,, the other will generate insecurity. The action that each person takes from then on will be congruent with where they have invested their faith.
If you are feeling emotions of fear, shame, guilt, and unhappiness, it is because you have invested faith in conceptual ideas that create these emotions. The ideas that are in your head and your self images are not the truth. But if you invest faith in them they will produce emotions and create the feeling of being real. The emotions you create with your faith are real, but the images and ideas of your beliefs are not. If you want to change how you feel one of the things you will have to learn to do is divest your faith from these false beliefs.
In recovering the power of your faith from these false beliefs not only will your level of happiness change, but your actions and behavior will changes as well. Another benefit of recovering your faith from these false beliefs is that you will then have the personal power to choose a new set of beliefs and take the actions to create a new life based on what you really want.
Learning how to gain control over the force of your faith is something that the Self Mastery course will help you do.