The Luxury of Faith

The fact that optimism is beneficial to well-being is common knowledge at this point. Most people know they can reduce stress and anxiety, and thereby lower their blood pressure, with little more than a positive outlook. They know that with a positive attitude they’re inclined to get off their asses, get out and about, and improve blood circulation and oxygen intake to boost production of the feel-good chemicals in their brains. These actions work to combat the woes of many physical ailments. Again, this is common knowledge at this point. Nobody is disputing this.

A common theme is woven throughout the practices of optimism, faith, and belief. It is the certainty of a desired outcome in the absence of evidence that the outcome will deliver what one desires. Yet in the interim, these attitudes do deliver psychological and physiological benefits as noted. In turn we’re energized and the efficacy of our faith, belief, and optimism is reaffirmed. Even when we don’t attain exactly what we want to the letter.

In keeping with the theme of this brief post, I’ll consolidate the terms ‘belief’ and ‘optimism’ into the familiar and mysterious idea of faith. From now on, when referring to any of the above attitudes, I’ll use the term ‘faith.’ Faith is a product of tested optimism. Given its benefits, it is as good for the mind and body as money is for the wallet. There is an irony here however. The fact is, in our morally impoverished social order, faith is a kind of luxury. Not everyone can afford it.

Our body politic and the social body it engenders is not in good health. This is because of its lack of exercise in good faith. As it stands, only the upper echelon is able to afford faith because of their lives of comparative ease and comfort. They are quite confident and assured of a bright future with respect to their careers, their investments, their goals, their children’s education, their retirement, their safety and so on. It’s all in the bag. So it makes perfect sense that they have faith in things going their way. As a result they’re typically in better health than their counterparts living cup in hand or paycheck to paycheck.

In the gut of our society, or “the belly of the beast,” as it’s called, personal and public agitation, discomfort, inflammation and diseases are running wild. There people don’t typically have the necessary credit to obtain or practice faith because they have no assurances, guarantees, or certainties. Instead, they are disheartened and wither before their time.

Meanwhile, leadership at large is often self-serving, overly ambitious, and egotistical yet compromised, to the point of delusional misconduct. So, when what is going on in the social body makes its way to the brains of the operation, its messages are scrambled. The system is as good as comatose.

Nevertheless, some people who can’t afford faith are living outside of their means. They visit the liquor store often and imbibe some faith in tomorrow. Others smoke themselves into good cheer. Still, others have sex as often as possible to feel like they’re getting over better than the average man and woman. There’s plenty of ways to fake happiness.

Honestly speaking though, there are other ways to acquire and exercise faith in ourselves and in our future. Motion should never be mistaken for action, but physical motion is helpful. As related in the second paragraph, exercise makes you healthier and makes you feel good. And at least when you’re feeling good, you’re more likely to anticipate happy returns.

But suppose, you’re unable to physically exert yourself for whatever reason. Another opportunity to build good faith is with human capital. Nearly everyone has at least one relative, friend or casual acquaintance. Invest in them. We can share our concerns with them if and when we need someone to listen to us or to advise and reassure us. These key relationships can lift us up and over many obstacles. Our trusted relationships are as good as gold. They create faith in human beings and in the possibilities of new relationships. And new experiences. That’s all that’s required for an attitude of enthusiasm.

So, we should tap into our reserves of human capital. And use it wisely. Friends, relatives, colleagues, contacts. They can weave us into more fruitful associations according to our tastes. Investing in this phenomena will augment an increasingly reliable creed of fidelity. The rewards of exchanging ideas with people from every level of the social order are immeasurable. Because together, forward-thinking individuals build a rich ecosystem and share its trappings. And as we defy the norm by developing solid faith in each other we stand out as visionaries. In such an environment, the heart and mind is active, healthy, inspired and energized. This is the most important type of upward mobility.

Even more reassuring is that human capital never stops increasing in value. Even as we sleep we have people close to us somewhere plotting on our behalf. That’s one of the luxuries of the kind of faith I’m talking about. Everyone carries this germ in their innermost heart. And as a wise man once instructed, “Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.”

But if you’re having serious problems right now and you wish I would just shut the hell up, you have the option of speaking to someone who cares at the Mental Health Hotline by calling 866-903-3787. Or call 988.