Fear and Faith

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about fear and faith; often two sides of one coin.

In life, if we are to live openhearted and brave, we must face our fears.  It is, I think, inevitable.  And in order to not only face our fears, but move through and past them, we must have faith that it will all work out.  

Otherwise, we would never take risks, never grow or expand or push boundaries.  We carry faith in ourselves, others or the universe or a spiritual force. 

 This particular topic was a major theme in the President Obama's inaugural address, and I kept loudly agreeing into the t.v.; "yes, speak the truth!"

I was really inspired by his words about addressing climate change and finally acting to face the realities of global warming.  YES!  The President reminded us, "The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But American cannot resist this transition. We must lead it...

We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect [sic]."  

How beautiful and true.  When we know what we must do; we must act without fear.  We must accept imperfection and keep the faith.  Here I am before my run around the Big Island; stocking up on plastic water bottles.  I see this discrepancy in my values for running and exploring the land, with using such vital resources as challenging progress for sure!

I do think we need to assess our actions and make changes.  One big action I take each day is abstaining from driving a car or eating animal products; and instead leading the way by riding my bike and eating locally grown produce, nuts and grains.  

Here's last night's dinner post run with Big Island Running Company.  A refreshing Koko Brown beer by Kona Brewing Company and a bowl of locally grown purple sweet potatoes, broccoli, and avocado.  

I supplemented the meal with imported quinoa and tempeh, and JuicePlus, protein sources and extra nutrients that I depend on as an athlete.  My choices are not perfect.  

However, I keep the faith that my actions to tread lightly on our resources, each day, matter.  This, just like many steps in life, is an ongoing journey.

A final note on acting to face our fears and keep the faith; as Obama pointed out, we must act together, as a community and nation to make progress.  We must accept help, encouragement, leadership and advise from others, and act together to make real change happen.  

I am working on facing my social fears, and getting out of my occasional hermit-dome, and reaching out to others to build a community of trail runners and health conscious folks.  

I've started getting to group runs more, am reaching out the local community for sponsorship and fund raising opportunities, and recently organized a MeetUp group:  Big Island Trail Runners.  Yes, progress can be a bumpy road littered with plastic water bottles, but we can only keep that faith that we will move on and arrive at some beautiful and rewarding places.