Episode 41 – Something to believe in

• Do you know that song?
• We all need something to believe in?
• I heard it some time ago and it stuck with me
• Especially this phrase – We all need something to believe in
• I think about it often
• Do we need something to believe in?
• Worldwide, more than 8-in-10 people identify with a religious group.
• A demographic study of more than 230 countries conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2010 estimates that there are 5.8 billion religiously affiliated adults and children around the globe, representing 84% of the 2010 world population of 6.9 billion.
• We are now somewhere around 7.5 billion people in this world
• But the study is the last one I could find data for
• At the time of the study it was stipulated that Islam is growing faster than any other religion,
• In fact, most of the world’s major religious groups are expected to rise in absolute numbers by 2050, the research finds, with Islam set to overtake Christianity and become the world’s dominant religion by 2070.
• Growth in these religions are associated with the respective growth of the population in the area where these religions are dominant
• Religions with many followers in developing countries – where birth rates are high, and infant mortality rates have in general been falling – are likely to grow quickly.
• People are born at a faster rate than people dying.
• If you are curiuous, check out this website
• http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
• it has a clock that shows the population growth and also shows population by country

• so based on the numbers of this study, its accurate when I say that most people have something they believe in
• how strongly they believe in their proclaimed religion is, of course, not something we will ever know for large numbers unless everyone fills out a survey and doesn’t lie
• we also don’t know how voluntary people’s choice of beliefs are
• in the US, beliefs have changed over the last 50 years
• In 1966, some 98 percent of Americans said they believed in God, according to a Gallup survey. When Gallup surveyed Americans in 2014, the number had dropped to 86 percent.
• In 1948, Gallup found that about 91 percent of Americans identified as Christian.
• From 2007 to 2014 alone, the percentage of Americans who identified as Christian fell from 78.4 percent to 70.6 percent.
• Nearly one in three Americans under 35 today do not identify with any formal religious group.
• The term “spiritual but not religious” has emerged in recent years
• If you ever filled out a dating profile online, you will recall that this is one of the options you can choose

• Enough with the numbers
• I simply wanted to show how widespread religion still is in the world, but also how the definition of spirituality is changing
• It is less and less a matter of affiliation, and is becoming more a decision based on a personal view of the world
• Just look at how yoga evolved
• It was once something only the really weird people did and most men made fun of it
• Today those same men write articles on Medium and Huffington Post about the benefits of yoga
• And yes, yoga can be spiritual
• Google Gratitude and endless results will show up of articles on this simple practice
• While the focus is shifting away from religion, spiritual sentiment is still strong and growing
• People want to believe in something
• But religions just have gotten a bad rep over the years
• And they are constricting
• People, myself included, find themselves agreeing only with some of the principles, but not all
• So people seek outside
• Some people don’t seek at all
• Which brings me back to my original question:
• Do we need something to believe in?
• Let me read you a quote from Seneca:
• It is in times of security that the spirit should be preparing itself to deal with difficult times; while fortune is bestowing favors on it then is the time for it to be strengthened against her rebuffs.
  – Seneca, Letters from a Stoic

• Seneca leads me nicely into why I believe we all need something to believe in
• Community with others, a sense of purpose and direction, a better understanding of how the word works, inner peace, etc
• I am sure there are many reasons that takes people on a path of seeking something to believe in
• And I want to make it clear that I am not speaking about a specific religion or group here
• I am simply referring to something that you hold on to strongly with your beliefs
• All my life I have struggled with learning effective ways to overcome adversity
• I have tried religion but religion didn’t help me with that aspect
• And to me, that is the most important element
• I want to believe in something – yes
• And it has to be something that can give me all the above, but it ALSO, like Seneca says helps me prepare for and walk through difficult times
• Its something that I never saw my parents or other family members handle well enough so I could learn by example
• Their world fell apart
• And so did mine when I encountered struggle
• For you it may be something different
• But I encourage you today:
• Find something to believe in but know your why
• Ask yourself why you believe
• Your belief should be your companion through good times and bad ones
• And I would venture a guess that many of us could use that help preparing for bad times
• Life itself never really prepares you for all the misfortunes that can occur to us
• We know about them, we see them happening to other people, and inside we are always relieved that its not us
• But as soon as it is US, we tumble and we fall
• We cant seem to manage
• I wish life prepared everyone better not just for adversity but also for greatness
• Because if you are that person that can manage well through challenging times, you come out stronger on the other side
• A stronger person makes a better citizen of humanity
• Many of those who have risen to greatness first passed through pain
• Look at the biographies of Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, JK Rowling, Oprah Winfrey
• But there are many more who didn’t make it through so well, that are still suffering, many years after

• Don’t rely on your willpower and your so-called inner strength until you have trained those aspects of yourself
• That’s what your spirituality and your beliefs should help you with
• Another quote from Seneca:
• The person who has practiced philosophy as a cure for the self becomes great of soul, filled with confidence, invincible – and greater as you draw near.
  – Seneca, Moral Letters
• I want to be such as person. Wouldn’t you?
• Great of soul, filled with confidence, and invincible to adversity?
• Well, then:
• Go and find your philosophy, your religion, your beliefs
• God, the universe, spirit
• Find your style of yoga, your preferred means of meditation, your favorite spot in nature,
• Go on a quest for the good life, for significance and for meaning
• Whatever it may be
• Find your higher purpose because its there
• it will give you strength, inner peace and it prepares you to handle the bumpiness of life

“Some people say they will not believe in anything they can’t see. What a catastrophe to not have any faith at all! You live only less than a half of life, if you will only believe in the things that you can see. Life is lived by those who have much faith and believe in many unseen things. If you believe in nothing that you cannot see, think about how much there is that you choose to turn your face away from! You can’t see your soul and you cannot prove that it exists, therefore if you call yourself one who believes in nothing unseen, then you will forever deny your soul its existence, for the existence of the soul dwells in love, trust, anger, passion, faith, belief, strength; the soul is forever nourished by things that are unseen!”
― C. JoyBell C.

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