I am a firm believer in supporting all beliefs, both religious and spiritual.

I do not see any religion or spiritual practice as being "right" or "wrong" as long as it does not hurt or threaten to hurt anyone else.

It's really hard to watch everyone around you believe and follow something when you're someone like me... someone who doesn't know what to believe.

One thing I know I can believe in for sure is that the body, mind and spirit are all equally important in one's health. A very common and important nursing diagnosis is "At risk for spiritual distress related to x, y, and z" and "Spiritual distress related to x, y, and z". The spiritual "x, y, and z" normally includes an illness or some kind of hardship. This spiritual distress can cause mental illness, physical illness, and overall poor health.

I try so hard to figure out what I believe in. I always say I believe in "something," but I don't know what that something is. When bad things happen, most people (who have a belief) jump to their beliefs to rescue them and get them through the hardship they now face. That is great and all until you don't really know what you believe, so everything is just an empty but messy black board.

My mind, like many others, is an old dusty black boards with many erase marks and chalk dust everywhere. Some words are visible while others are erased and crossed out. "Love," "acceptance," "spirits," "after life," "kindness" are words that are neatly and confidently written on the board. While words like "God," "heaven," and "church" are messily erased out. It's not that I don't believe in God and a heaven, but life has made it hard to believe sometimes. The words are still visible, but not very legible or confidently placed on the board.

If you're anything like me, when bad things happen, that's when you feel the strain of not knowing what to believe the most. You want to believe in some kind of God or higher being, but you have so many issues doing it. Because, why would He allow something so bad to happen to you? Why would He let you struggle when you are always so kind to everyone? How can he be so forgiving to the wrong people?

There is nothing wrong with questioning and wondering, as long as you find some kind of faith to follow and help you through this strange game of life.

After trial and error, you will figure it out. If it were a perfect world, everyone would be born and have whatever source of faith drilled into their heads and that would be it. Unfortunately, you have to find out what you choose to believe yourself. You are not required to agree with every single detail in your path of beliefs.

What many people do not say is that you can mix and match your beliefs with existing beliefs. You believe in God and the power of prayer? You also believe in centering your spirit, body, and mind with meditation? You believe that you can connect with your body by taking a nature walk? Go for it.

Do and believe whatever will make you whole.

There is a lot of religion and spirituality that is not so cut and dry. It is not exactly black and white, there is a lot of grey area.

So paint your own picture.

Organize the chalk board, make it neater and more legible.
It's never going to be perfect but make something you feel confident in believing in and following will help your life so much more well lived.