“The belief that you can is what propels one to do.” 

My quote above all starts with one cup of faith, one cup of belief, a dash of hope and a desire of what you want (goal)!

As I was taking my usual early morning walk, I decided to test myself on my discipline of keeping my goals in check once I’ve made them. So I selected heart-searching. You see, my daughter and I have been collecting hearts for as long as we can remember, and we both see them everywhere!

They hover overhead in the clouds, beneath our feet in rocks and puddles, and so forth; we see them in the most random places and always feel they show up when we need them most.

So as I increased my walking speed, I set my goal to be that I would have to find one heart before returning to my Jeep. It seemed like a simple enough objective and one that I felt I needed this particular morning. Well, as I walked and jogged, I found much more than just a heart. Here were my findings:

Faith + Belief = Action

It didn’t take long before self-judgment began to creep in. As soon as I chose heart-searching as my goal, I questioned myself. I thought, “Is this goal too easy; did I pick something I knew I would win at?”  My mind then drifted to the differences between faith and belief.

I then thought about how faith is placing our belief on something bigger then us, and belief is placing it on ourselves…belief is more internally driven, similar to hope.

We can hope all day long, but faith is more global and comes blindly, not knowing the “how” behind it.  It requires courage, being bold and facing fears. It’s all important and necessary but distinctly different.

Precise Focus

As much as we may hate to admit it, goal-setting is critical to helping accomplish tasks in life.  As I strolled up and down the hills, I noticed that I became so focused on my goal of finding what had now become my heart.

I almost became absent to the other runners, bicyclists, and even found myself repeating a new mantra I had created. You will always find what you are looking for…

You will always find what you are looking for…

You will always find what you are looking for…

We Negotiate & Compromise Ourselves

As I continued to walk and scan the grounds, I glanced up and noticed I was halfway to my Jeep, I slightly panicked as the brief thought of failure hit me!  “What if I don’t find a heart?” I asked myself. I quickly returned to my mantra. You will always find what you are looking for…  

My vision spread out wider, and I found myself looking at objects somewhat resembling hearts…but not really. There were some pebbles with missing tales and some blades of grass that I suppose on a very dark night might look like a heart somehow, but again, not really.

We compromise and negotiate with ourselves when the pressure is on and we think we might lose. The pressure was on, and there were no hearts to be found.

Next- Perservence and Live in Abundance