Kris Carr

Kris Carr

Emotional Health

How to Stop Forcing and Start Having Faith

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Hiya Gorgeous!

Happy Valentine’s Day! I was hoping to write something about romantic love or heartbreak today, but I couldn’t decide. Should I re-tell the story of how my biggest heartbreak made space for my greatest love? Nah. Wasn’t feeling it (shout-out to my hubby, Brian, though!)

Perhaps, I’d write about cancer. Today is my cancerversary, after all. Fourteen years living with cancer and still going strong. Nope. Wasn’t feeling that, either. Politics? Hell no. What about how to make a smoothie or take a good poop? Meh. The clock was ticking (we publish every Tuesday) and I was coming up snake eyes.

Well, I could write about a much bigger love—the universal love that’s always available to us. Call it God, Goddess, the Divine, Natural Order, Higher Consciousness—whatever works for you.

But to really do that, I’d have to talk about how I’ve been blocking this love and support (when I need it most). Ooh, that’s juicy! Alrighty, here goes…

I’m a fixer, a problem solver, a get-the-job-done type of gal.

I like to manifest the crap out of life. I get an idea, gut check it to make sure it feels good and then spring into action, creating a multi-tiered plan to make it happen, captain.

Now, I’m not saying that this is always a bad thing. It’s helped me be successful in many areas. But when my behavior is out of balance, it’s exhausting.

So lately, I’ve been easing up. Less doing. More being. I re-calibrated my goals and focused my energy. I declined speaking opps and social engagements. I even expanded my team, which allows me to delegate more. Yay!

Yet no matter how much I took off my plate, I was still overwhelmed and I didn’t understand why. My conscious, solution-oriented mind was coming up short.

Hmmm. Maybe it was my adrenals? Could Ashwagandha help? Nope, tried it. Jeez, what was wrong with me? Screw strategy! It was time to tap into spirit and ask for help.

So, I prayed on it. I prayed and prayed and in the stillness of meditation, I heard this:

“You’re pushing your way through life, relying on force vs. faith.

You’re depending on your own strength vs. Divine timing.

You’re not alone. There are unseen forces working on your behalf.

So, stop trying to control everything.

Instead, show up for your life and the people in it with love. The Universe will do the rest.”

Now, that’s what I call a big medicine message from spirit!

In essence, my spirit was telling me to surrender my need for certainty.

For control freaks like me, that’s a hard pill to swallow. Control can feel so good when we have it. It’s orderly and cozy. Our ducks are in a row and stuff is buttoned up. But, is it really? In my case, control was masking anxiety. Drive was disguising fear.

Life doesn’t always want to be tucked in like that. We’re human beings, not human doings. So when we’re overly obsessed with controlling outcomes, it’s a sign that we’re out of alignment with both our inner guidance and our connection with the Divine.

Constantly plotting, planning and trying to figure things out on my own wasn’t working. My schedule wasn’t exhausting—my mind was! If this sounds like you, the following solutions may help.

How to move from force to faith.

Start by quieting your mind and connecting with spirit. As your thoughts and breath settle, ask for Divine assistance. You may say something like, “Please help me arrange this situation, I can’t figure it out on my own and I need your help.” Then, let go.

Each time a fearful, controlling thought pops up, replace it with a loving, confident thought. Rinse and repeat. Daily, hourly—whenever you need.

Remember that love is patient. Love is trusting. Love is unshakable—even in a shaky world. When we’re aligned with love, we’re aligned with the Divine and with the natural rhythms of life. We create from a place of sacred synchronicity rather than scarcity.

We believe that what’s right for our highest good is being coordinated on our behalf. Therefore, we don’t always have to strategize, force outcomes or figure everything out. Instead, we can do our part and then relax.

Again, this doesn’t mean we passively float through life letting everything happen to us. It means that we find a balance of action and allowing. Sometimes, it’s enough to just hang out with the vision we want to create for a while. We don’t have to jump on it right away. We can sip it like a fine wine. Swish it around and allow the flavors to reveal themselves.

Case in point: Have you ever worked your butt off to reach a goal but for whatever reason, it didn’t happen? Maybe you wanted this goal so badly that it was kinda hard to bounce back after it didn’t work out. Perhaps not getting what you wanted, what you worked so hard for, made you sink into a depression and even doubt your abilities.

Then, out of the blue, months or years later, the unmet desire suddenly happens. You didn’t do a darn thing, it just showed up. Why is that? Because the seed you planted blossomed while you were doing other stuff. Basically, the universe worked on it’s timeline, not yours.

Or maybe, what you wanted showed up in a different, more wonderful way than you actually imagined. Maybe your vision was smaller than what the Universe had in store for you!

You will be led to exactly where you need to be—to the right people, doctors, business opportunities, romantic relationship and decisions.

“Life loves you,” as Louise Hay would say. It’s on your side. It wants you to be unapologetically you. But, life also needs you to have faith in the unfolding.

I hope this topic resonates. If so, are there outcomes that you’re forcing? Can you try to apply a little faith and trust to the situation? Understanding that your muscle pales in comparison to the power of the Universe.

Peace & prayer,

Add a comment
  1. Needed that, as a Doer with a capital D, I needed to be reminded of that.

  2. siri jostad says:

    you are beautiful, Kris.

  3. Sherri says:

    Thank you Kris for these words, they are exactly what I needed to hear right now – thank you, thank you! Faith & trust.

  4. Judit says:

    Thanks Kris for another great post, you are my spiritual and wellness guru! Can you tell us more about how do you pray exactly? Thanks a lot in advance! Peace and love:)

  5. Anna-Maria Bent says:

    Wow Kris!
    One of your best blogs yet! It all feels so right and true to me!
    Thanks for this! Gonna show up with Love and let the universe do its thing. Xo

  6. Nikka says:

    I love knowing that I am in control of my life & I love creating my reality. Those are powerful words, “The universe loves me” and “The universe supports me.”

  7. Laura says:

    Thank you Kris. This was a lesson for me today. I sincerely appreciate these words…

  8. Wendy Irene says:

    Just what I needed to hear. Thank you, dearly Kris.

  9. darlene says:

    Kris I love you lol. I am doing doing doing and spent time today and gave it up to Divine Universe. I have been so busy doing… all good things mind you, but spinning my wheels, and feeling frustrated. I work full time as a server at a 5 star restaurant/Hotel, and it is tiring. But I cant give my job up yet, 🙂 I am doing the writers course online with You and the rest of the gang, which I am lapping up, loving it, I am writing my story as well, I am also doing the Hypnosis course called “Uncompromised Life” along with other things like learning to play guitar etc. and my thought process is like…Sleep is highly overrated haha. I thought to myself this morning. Why don’t you try something you haven’t tried in awhile, be still and go within and ask for help. So, I did, I went to the beach with God and surrendered it to him. In return I received 3 words…LOVE followed by Trust, and Believe…and then the real clarity came. Go clean your walk in closet today and then you will be free to see what is next. Haha I love the Universe sense of humor. I needed to declutter in order to be free. I then came across your blog. Wow I am speechless as to how I manifested this along with your confirmation. Ty you are my favorite. Love is in the air Happy Belated Valentine’s Day

  10. Irene says:

    This really hit home and my heart. It is for our family of “doers.” Honestly one of the best things I’ve read in a long time. What a wonderful way to start the day.

  11. Bee says:

    Thank you so much for your wise words Kris – I completely identify with this. Need to let go, striving is a very stressful state to be in………x

  12. Annalise says:

    Yes, I’m feeling the resonance. Thank you for this post. Thanks for being candid and honest and insightful. You are a shining example!

  13. Rachel says:

    A reminder to

    “Let go and let God”

    Xx

  14. Chris says:

    Happy Valentine’s Day, Thanks for the wonderful message of loving yourself, taking the time to tune into yourself and your connection to the universe. I have so many people I love in my life, but this year I decided to send a Valentine’s wish to someone I never had before. Someone who needs love as much as all the others who have been receiving it from me for years. I sent a Valentine’s wish to me and spent part of the day treating myself. Doing things for me as well as those I love. The best gift to myself, a beautiful walking meditation in the woods with snow gently falling. Love to all on this Valentine’s Day. And don’t forget to take care of loving you.

  15. Nina says:

    Kris, thank you so much for your loving, open-hearted and authentic communication. I can take it in, ponder it and integrate it without resistance. Lots of love back to you! Nina

  16. Teresa says:

    Thanks Kris for sharing. I’ve been really struggling with this myself & yes it’s very hard for us control freaks to just let go. Besides making a New Years resolutions this year, I decided to choose one word like author Jon Gordon suggests. Choosing just one word allows us to focus on a particular something that we want to improve in our life and that’s a lot more obtainable than regular resolutions that we never end up keeping. My one word for this year is “surrender”, because I wanted to try to work on using “faith not force” all the time like you discussed. Your suppose to allow your one word to reveal itself to you by opening your heart and mediation with the Spirit. I finally decided on the word “surrender” and I have been wondering if I might have forced my word (yikes! I can’t even make myself not control one simple word!). Did I let faith have anything to do with it? After reading your blog article on the exact same subject and it touching my heart so, I’m sure that I chose correctly. Your article really hit home with me and I believe your article was my sign! I’m still very much struggling, so I’m going to try your suggestions on how to let go and let God drive sometimes. I wonder how many blessings that we miss, because we’re not letting God drive and we’re forcing things to go a certain way? Hmmm. Anyways, Keep up the great work Kris! I really Love your articles and thank you for all you do!

  17. cherie says:

    This is so hard to do when you grew up in a very strict religious household where spirit was obscured by rules and guilt. I am learning to lean into spirituality little by little for the first time through meditation. It’s working! I still can’t use the word “God” but I can use some substitutes and they are working fine. It can be done, people:-)

  18. Andrea says:

    So clear and uplifting words. In the hardest of times it is necessary to let go…. almost everything, so it may come back with abundance. Thanks for sharing the love. Need to remember: let go, let God… and exhale

  19. Chazz says:

    I had a conversation recently with a friend about faith and trust and how hard that all is. Then I took the dog out to potty one last time before bed, just after getting off the phone. I looked up at this beautiful full moon that was encircled in a double rainbow–something I had never seen before around the moon or at night–and I heard, “There are forces in motion you can’t even begin to understand.” It’s hard sometimes, but every time I look up at the moon now I try to remind myself of that.

  20. Catherine says:

    Hi Kris

    That was a beautiful email to read. It was exactly what I needed to hear in my life right now.

    Thank you so much.

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