Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.
When taking true risks, we cannot be one hundred percent sure of the outcome. There is no way to know for certain how it will all turn out. There is a point when we face the unknown where, along with courage and belief in ourselves, we must call on faith.
Faith…as in having trust in something larger than yourself. Some people find faith in religion or spirituality. Some are able to tap into an inner faith. Sometimes we must put our faith in others.
When my late husband was first diagnosed with cancer, all of our attention went into quickly identifying the treatment center and doctor who would be the best fit for him. In the early stages of his illness, he didn’t want to know a lot about what he may or may not be up against. He didn’t want to know survival rates or side effects of chemotherapy. He wanted to have his own experience. So I became the point person for all research.
We visited three different oncologists in two days, each with a very different approach as to how they would go about treating Gary’s Hodgkin’s. Once he decided on the doctor he felt would be the best fit for him, we had to choose to take that step, and then let go on faith that this man would be able to save Gary’s life.
What I learned from this process is that when facing serious situations in life you need:
- To do your research and have an informed list of questions prepared.
- Find an expert in the field of your challenge.
- Take the first step of making them part of your team for navigating through the challenge.
- Have faith that they will help you climb your staircase one step at a time.
- Know that having faith is not the same as blind faith.
- Be willing to co-create the path you are on.
When it came time for me to hire my own coach and face a major life transition of leaving a successful career in Hollywood to follow my passion, I followed these same steps. Though this challenge wasn’t about facing a physical life threatening situation, it also wasn’t insignificant. I have had to have incredible faith going through the transformation from production to cancer survivorship and life transitions coaching. My physical health may not have been at stake, but my emotional well-being and personal happiness certainly were.
As we take on challenges bigger than ourselves, it is important to build a network of support, do our homework and, at some point, to take that big leap and just have faith.