my religious.

so i have been trying to work this out for myself for awhile now, and i think i've finally figured it out. and it better be good, because i should have been doing my psych homework.

i'm an athiest.
it's a bit difficult to say that, mostly because it is scary. it's admitting to yourself that it's an enormous universe out there, and we're all alone in it. as well as the prejudices against the word, the automatic conclusions one jumps to upon hearing it.it does not mean that i am against religion, merely that i hold no beliefs in a higher power. i think--to each his own, and if you find that religion suits you, if it lifts your heart when you are down, how am i to deny you that?but as far as what goes for me, i haven’t been able to find sufficient evidence to believe in a God. i have looked, believe me, dabbled here and there, and maybe i don’t know enough yet, maybe i will someday change my mind. that’s what life is all about, right? so, until then.

the main problem i had back then, and it persists today—i don't believe that i should sacrifice all that i know is in me to worship something else. it has never felt right to me; i always felt as if i was lowering my own potential, and i don't think i could ever do it wholeheartedly and with good conscious. but that's just me.i believe that people have created God, in all his/her many forms, as a manifestation of what they know is truly in their hearts. i don’t believe that this is a bad thing. i think everyone is born knowing the good that’s inside, the potential we hold. but if you were to sit down and look at yourself—really look at yourself—objectively, it is frightening. how do you handle all that you know you could be, and even more so, the possibility of failure? if you can get up so high, what happens if you fall? however, if we create this outside being, that holds all the good in the world, better than anything we can imagine.. it’s a little easier to handle.

that’s beside the point. and i don’t want to offend anybody.

there is a little bit of good and a little bit of bad in all of us... that is what makes us human. i don’t feel that it’s right to feel guilty for succumbing every once in awhile... it happens, and we learn from it. if we didn’t, we would lose one of the most essential pieces of being human. it shouldn’t be something to feel bad about.

i don't believe that i need a higher power to become all that i can become, and all that i am meant to be.

i do believe in the power of the human soul. i believe that people are inherently good at heart. i don't have a clue what happens after we die, and i don't expect to ever know. but i'm okay with that. listen to dumbledore... it's the next great adventure.

i believe in art and music and dreams, and the beauty in the world around us that we miss so often. i believe in miracles of the world. look outside, at nature, if you need proof in miracles--look at trees, especially now in the fall, look at all the beauty around you in the brilliant colors and the fact that you can even see those colors, and the fact that we know exactly how we can see those colors. look all over the world, at how up until the last century or so, cultures were isolated for the most part, and look at everything they’ve created. the differences and the similarities. and each believing very different things. how can you say there’s no pure power in the very essence of being human?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism <<>

take a minute, and think of love. all the many things it has accomplished, in all the many ways, all over the world. on the tiniest of scales, every interaction with other creatures every day. these are the things that mean something. the sparks that change our lives. i think this is what makes the world go round, what makes people tick, hearts beat, lips smile. you know how deviod and gray life seems without it, and how bursting and full of electricity everything is when you feel it. from anyone. a stranger, your mom, my mom, me, yourself. love yourself, love everyone, and you will be successful, happy, enthusiastic, motivated, whole. be inspired by this. remember it.

i believe that if we all would realize the incredible potential inside, we could truly change the world. if we could look outside of our glass bowls. break your glass ceiling! every day.

this is a very personal point of view and there is no way i am trying to press any of it on you. especially because i'm winding other things in with it. but for me, i cannot fathom focusing too intently on the future, the afterlife, and miss what beautiful opportunities are walking outside your door this very minute. i have enough trouble keeping up with the moments that fill every day.

at the same time, i believe that the human nature is dynamic. i am always changing (and i’m sure anyone who knows me can attest to that), learning and evolving based on my experiences, memories, interactions, thoughts. each day is a new—well, day. and all that i know, is everything up until this very moment. i can only imagine what will come in a new day. so this goes both for and against my atheism—i can’t be molded into a set of doctrines that won’t move with me, while on the other hand i may see the light of a god some other day.

don’t worry, this doesn’t mean i’m living in the dark in any way. i feel as though i can open up my heart to the world even more, and it will motivate me to be all i can—to not waste my potential—because there isn’t a guardian figure waiting to carry all my excuses. it’s only up to me.