Why Having Faith is Essential to Self-Care

Hi, ladies! As you can see, we have another self-care post. Yay! Today Jennifer Scott from spiritfinder.org will be speaking on why having faith is essential to your self care. I hope you ladies enjoy!

Self-care, if you’re new to the concept, is doing what you need to in order to maintain your personal well-being. It involves the pursuit of activities that address your physical, mental, emotional, and other needs. Everyday life can be demanding and stressful, and other people don’t always meet all your needs. With self-care, you give yourself the love and care you require to be healthy, overcome challenges, bust stress, live sustainably, and just make yourself happy long-term. Parade explains it in detail. 

When people take up self-care, they often focus on the practical aspects such as exercise and eating right. But there’s another aspect to self-care and, arguably, the most important one of them all – having faith in God. Below, we take a look at why we believe faith is a critical part of self-care and how to incorporate it into any existing self-care practice you do:     

How much of life can you control? 

Have you ever asked yourself how much control you have over your own life? If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll realize that humans have limited power. Regardless of how well you look after yourself, life frequently comes with uncertainty, challenges, and many trials and tribulations that push people to the breaking point (and often well past it). Tomorrow is a likelihood but not a guarantee. 

What is having faith?

There are various interpretations of faith, depending on your personal spiritual journey and level of awareness. But all of them have some aspects in common – they involve a belief in God, in the value of life, and there being a purpose to everything (including your own life). Faith can be seen as knowing that your Creator cares about you and that you’re not alone in your journey. It’s knowing that God has your back and there is always a helping hand, regardless of what you’re facing. Faith gives you certainty and hope, helps you trust life, gives you a reason, and makes you believe in positive outcomes. Having faith is fulfilling a spiritual need, essential for holistic self-care. 

The power of letting go and letting God 

People with faith commonly believe God has a plan for their lives that is better than anything they could come up with by themselves.  Many people who have faith experience near-miraculous events, as Clothing With Dignity can confirm. Self-care isn’t self-care if you don’t meet all your needs, including your need for trust and hope. 

Here are some of the benefits of having faith:   

• Peace: When you know God is supporting you and everything is happening for a reason, it gives you mental peace. 
• Reduced stress: Having faith (having hope for the future or knowing this too shall pass) can help you keep your fears, anxieties, and stresses at bay. 
• More energy and drive: When you know there’s a purpose for your life and yourself, it can motivate, inspire, and fill you up with energy and drive. 
• Better life outcomes: Surrendering to God’s will can help you navigate uncertainties, align with life’s flow, and manifest positive outcomes for your life.  

But you also bear responsibility for your life 

Keep in mind that having faith in God doesn’t mean you forego all your choices. You still have free will and are still responsible for making your life choices (surrender is doing your bit first and then letting go, not just letting go). You can cultivate a relationship with the divine where you receive guidance for your life (including choices) and build a more fulfilling life in tandem with God. It takes time to do so, though, and you may make missteps along the way. Knowing what healthy choices look like can help you stay the course. This could range from starting an exercise routine to revamping your current diet. You may be surprised by how eating healthier snacks and drinking more water can improve your overall well-being.

How to incorporate faith into your self-care routine

If you’d like to embrace faith as a part of your self-care routine, here are some suggestions: 

• Getting closer to God: You can cultivate a relationship with God through various practices like praying, fasting, and listening to Gospel music. 
• Imagining positive outcomes: Instead of thinking of all the ways it could go wrong, think of all the ways it could go right. This is especially helpful when you’re setting intentions for your life.
• Meditating: Meditating helps quieten the mind and connects you more consistently to God. 
• Practice surrender: You can actively surrender anything you care about to God and just let events play out. You may be surprised at the results.  

Conclusion 

Having faith can help reduce stress and make you happier and healthier. Faith is like a muscle that needs some building up, though, and you won’t get there overnight. You can incorporate more faith into your life by making it a part of your self-care routine and consistently following faith-related activities.