Faith versus Fear

Three weeks ago I started the "Griot Course" on fighting global hunger issues sponsored by the World Food Program, WFP-USA and ONE. As a Speech Communication Instructor, and being an extrovert, speaking up has not usually been an issue for me. However, in all my experience, when it came to "political issues" I would shy away. Don't get me wrong, I always exercised my right to vote firmly believing that if I didn't, I didn't have the right to share my opinions on how the government was doing. But beyond that I rarely got involved in the political process. So when our first week's activity was to write our congressional representatives, I knew I was going to be pushed outside of my comfort zone. This is when I knew I was truly going to learn something beyond the statistics of the class, I was going to learn about myself.

One of the largest lessons I've learned about myself from the class so far was that I was going to have to rely on faith versus fear. I'm not talking necessarily about faith from a higher power, although for many people that would definitely tie in here. Once I recognized this lesson and actually implemented it, I discovered stepping outside of my comfort zone wasn't as scary as I first believed. Here's how I needed to reframe my perspective to focus away from fear on more on faith:

1. I shouldn't fear sounding ignorant. I should focus on what I know and proceed with confidence and faith in myself.
2. I shouldn't be afraid to ask for help. Instead, I should have faith that people will step up when I make my request honestly and from the heart.
3. Fear of failure demonstrates itself as pessimism while faith sparks optimism.
4. Fear of being just one person discounts the power one can have if they put faith in the power of many.

The further I go in this course the more relevant these revelations become. In fact, I based my entire class project around these themes and now, instead of allowing fears to overshadow the project, I have faithfully put it out there, in hopes that people, people like YOU, will step up and accept the challenge to make a difference along with me.

Please learn more, I'm faithfully counting on you: Eleventh Hour Challenge