I was brought up in the Catholic religion where we went to church every week, followed by Sunday school, then followed by breakfast— whether it was at Dunkin Donuts or the small town breakfast place down the road from my church. We weren’t always the best at making it to church, and we didn’t always say the prayers or sing along at mass. We also didn’t quite agree with a lot of the beliefs in the Catholic religion. An example being that I am not judgmental of anyone because of his or her sexual orientation. I am also a supporter of a woman’s right to make choices about her body that is best for herself, and I don’t believe the status of another person’s virginity measures their value as a person. However, when people ask if I practice faith I will not hesitate to say yes.

I began to really appreciate my relationship with faith in my freshman year of high school. My Sunday school instructor made a suggestion that we should all pray before bed and be thankful for another day. Her words were important to me until this very day because I started to think about how fortunate I was to be healthy, living under a roof, with clothes, warmth, food, parents who loved me, and a school who cared about my education. I couldn’t find any other way to appreciate everything other than thanking God for giving me a beautiful life.

Faith is not only important when you are feeling grateful for everything you have in your life; it is also helpful to our minds and our hearts when things are not going so great. Everybody experiences hardships in their lives and the severity of each hardship differs from person to person. You could be struggling with anxiety or depression, stress from school, or a loss of a loved one, or simply feeling like the world is out to get you. But, for many of us, we look to our faith to help us get through these difficult times, and I that’s why I continue to make it a big part of my life.

Regardless of whom you feel connected to spiritually, whether it be Buddha, Allah, or any god or higher spiritual figure, I believe that that faith in these metaphysical beings or ideas is important especially in cases where we feel like we have nothing left. Praying gives people hope and can help us get back on our feet and maintain positivity and a peace of mind in our lives.

Ever since my Sunday school teacher talked about the importance of prayer, I have made sure to thank God before I sleep for giving me another wonderful day, and I pray for my family, friends, and loved ones to be blessed with good health and happiness. I may not be at church every week, I may have sinned more than I can count on both hands, I may not be a model Catholic, but I hold strong to my faith and my belief in the God that I talk to, and I will never doubt religion’s ability to fill people’s hearts with faith, hope, and joy.