Reflections on Belief & Anxiety

Spotlight On Mental Health

By Renea Mohammed

The other day, I was watching a TV series called The Affair. In one of the episodes, a character was asked if he believed in God. He answered that he thought that if someone believes in God, then he has made God real by bringing His presence into the world through his belief. I had never thought of it that way before. I think it validates the notion of faith, though perhaps faith needs no validation.

It also made me think about how we can bring other things into the world through belief. It made me think about anxiety. We can give our fears reality simply through belief. If we imagine something bad, we have made it materialize in our life, if only in our head and heart.

On the flip side though, if we believe in positive things, we also bring their presence into the world. That, I think, is a comforting thought.