mindset – Sarah Faith

written words

November 18, 2020 by Sarah Faith

these are some of the exact words i wrote in my journal this morning. i don’t know why i felt so compelled to share them – i guess i thought maybe they could help someone. i hope they do…

i have a hard time delineating between something not serving me and needing to pivot away and choose a new path, especially when things don’t work out. i seem to gravitate toward something taking another course as something being wrong with me and i start thinking that it’s going nowhere. really, if i sit and think about the truth, there’s been at least a hundred times when something didn’t work out and it was for my betterment. a new option that i didn’t consider surfaces and i’m back clear sailing.

the mindset i want to practice is trust.

the mindset i want to practice is peace.

the mindset i want to practice is yes, chasing big things is hard, but there’s a difference between something being hard and something not aligning with your soul. sometimes it’s hard to figure out exactly what the difference between the two things is, but there’s a small voice, an intuition, a gut instinct that’s always had my back that i know i can trust.

♥,
SF

dear self,

October 7, 2020 by Sarah Faith

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choose your legacy, meaningful music, mental health, mindset, mindset work, self care, self empowerment, self help, self love, self talk

the first letter to me, from me.

you know, it’s ok to not be ok. we’re all humans and sometimes we just have days when we’re not 100%. you don’t have to beat yourself up about it.

you don’t have to take everyone else’s opinion so seriously. shit, you don’t owe a single second to their opinion if it doesn’t serve you. none of this is really up to them anyway.

maybe it would be fun to try thinking for one whole day that you were a fucking epic creation. maybe it wouldn’t feel like you were being cocky or self-centered. maybe it would feel like you were just actually being yourself for once. beautiful, loud, outlandish, creative, vibrant, a little crazy, full of joy and energy, just the way you were created to be. just a thought.

you’re going to make it. even if you were stranded in the middle of nowhere with nothing left to your name but the shirt on your back and the shoes on your feet, you would figure out how to make it. what are you afraid of?

just because it doesn’t work out just like you think it should, doesn’t mean it’s not working. don’t you think it’s a little small minded to think that you have the master plan anyway? the master plan is controlled by someone much higher than you – no offense. you probably don’t want it to work out the way you planned anyway – there are much greater things in store. things you can’t even imagine. outcomes you never considered.

your dreams and aspirations are far from stupid, far from impossible, far from worthless. whatever visions were put in your head and heart are For you – chase them.

think back to a time when you were So Full of Joy, you could hardly contain yourself. do more of that.

resting isn’t for lazy people. it’s for smart people. running yourself to the ground seems like a great thing to do, until you’re actually in the ground, unable to move, unable to dream, unable to chase because you ran too hard. it’s a marathon; not a sprint.

there are trees, and rivers, and mountains, and sunrises, and sunsets, and oceans, and animals, and canyons, and a thousand other amazingly beautiful things in this earth. the same Creator that made all of that… also made You. don’t sell yourself short. you were made to fly and shine and be. you were made for this. whatever your “this” is…. whatever makes you feel like you’re the best version of yourself. that’s who you were created to be. don’t you dare put yourself in a small box. don’t you dare be afraid to take up all your space in this world. you’re the only you this planet has ever and will ever have.

♥,

SF

between the ears

August 4, 2020 by Sarah Faith

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americana music, country music, female musician, meaningful music, mindset, music for healing, music with purpose, nashville musician, new music, original music, purpose driven, sarah faith music

i’ve been golfing since i was a kid – i believe my dad put my first club in my hand at 9. he would every so often lovingly suggest that i pursue golf more seriously because he really thought i could go somewhere with it – play in high school, get a scholarship, really do the damn thing – but i sort of laughed him off just about every single time. i was a soccer player. i didn’t believe that i could ever be good at a sport that relied so heavily on myself – i thought i needed the team and, if i’m being completely honest, i got quite a bit of aggression out… golf is not a contact sport, nor one that really involves any sort of aggression. final deduction – not for me.

but i’ve still played golf here and there my whole life, just not very seriously. as far as swings go, i’ve got a decent one. i had a great teacher growing up in my dad, and my husband aspires to golf professionally. but i just never could quite call it “my sport.” so it didn’t seem like a big deal a couple weeks ago when i literally said out loud….. “i think i’m just going to stop trying… i don’t know why i keep wasting all this effort trying to get better at this. i need to just accept that i’m a 90s golfer…” i understand that 90s is great for many, but i’ve got the most competitive spirit i’ve ever met, and i’m constantly golfing with people who are birdie machines and under par pretty often. i started feeling like a failure. i started telling myself how much i sucked in comparison. it made me mad. like, really mad. i started talking like a defeatist. i truly believed the game was a waste of time, and i wasn’t having any fun playing it.

TRUTH BOMB –> it’s all mental. not just golf. everything. all of it. it’s mental and you get to choose what kind of mentality you have and what actions that mentality inspires you to take. *carry on*

here’s why i know that little above part to be true. i was involved in a tournament this past weekend – a two-day, two-man tournament. the way it worked out, i was partnered up with one of our great friends and neighbors, and we were all excited to play this tournament, chirping each other, just all around amped. except for the thoughts i had in the back of my mind that whispered sweet nothings to me – things to the effect of, “you’re not even good at this game. your poor partner. hope his back doesn’t get tired from carrying the team…” you know, kind, helpful things like that…

i’ll say i fumbled through day one, trying my best, but ultimately, playing pretty average…. but on day two, i stepped on to the driving range and thought to myself, “i’m really tired of this sad sack of emotions i’ve turned into out here. i think i’d like to make today different,” and i took a swing. and it was different. so i took another swing. and it was different, too. pure. carefree. easy.

TRUTH BOMB –> it’s all mental. every. single. thing.

but it wasn’t just a few good swings on the driving range – those few swings turned into my second lowest round ever – 79. and i’ll even add that one bad hole cost me a 76 – which would have totally been badass. but the bottom line is… it was all mental.

i committed to myself from the very beginning that i was going to be locked in mentally for all 18 holes. none of this shit where i trail off and start telling myself how shitty of a player i am, how bad of a teammate i am, how one mistake leads to another, how you i can have one good hole, but probably not two, none of that. i was committedAF. i took as many deep breaths as it took for me to settle down – like 936 deep breaths, people. a SHIT TON of deep breaths…. because i’m a damn MENTAL case out there. i SWEAR. in my head the entire time…. it. was. hard. but you know what, it was worth it. and i proved to myself that for as mental as i think i am, i’m so much stronger than all of that crap that happens in the tiny space between my ears.

before every shot, no matter how difficult, i waited for my mind to clear all the shit before i acted. (side note: my life should be like that… let the shit clear before taking action.) on tricky shots, i waited for all of that crap to get out of the way that told me i would never pull it off, which led me to back-to-back birdies at one point. i stood on tee boxes and literally visualized the exact path of my drive – i probably looked nuts sometimes just staring at the fairway for like 10 seconds at a time. but i didn’t care, because 200+ yards later, i was ready for shot number two – set my up for eagle once and put me about 5 feet off the side of a green once… it’s all MENTAL!!! i stopped caring about how i looked, what other people thought, and i 100% bought in to that round – all four and a half hours of it. and for someone as off-the-walls as me, that’s a long ass time.

guys, i’m not an amazing golfer. sure, i’ve been playing a long time, and i’m better than average. i’ve got good mechanics and i can get around a course pretty well. but i one THOUSAND percent willed my way to that round – i know that without a doubt. it was my mental game that kicked so much ass that day.

and this is alllllll applicable to life. how many negative things do you tell yourself on a daily basis, sometimes without even realizing they’re there?? i’ll just fess up and say….. kind of a lot, like…. too much… way too much…. more than i’d like to ever admit – and the gross part is the some of the things i tell myself, i would NEVER utter to another human being, so Why in the Hell do i let that live in my mind…? how many times have i walked up to a golf course and been like “yup, i totally can’t wait to play this game today,” only to basically mentally give up entirely after my first mistake….. a mistake that probably isn’t that big of a deal and is probably normal for a girl who isn’t an aspiring pro golfer….. why does it take so LITTLE for me to cash it in??? no way, José. i realized some Powerful Shit the other day on the course, and it is STAYING!!!

Take as many deep breaths as it takes to calm down – who cares what you look like. it’s not about them, dammit. COMMIT mentally to what you’re doing! it’s the most powerful thing you can do! i learned, and literally proved to myself for the better part of 5 hours…. that my mind is SOOOOOOOOOO powerful!!!! not like i didn’t know that before, but i literally spent FIVE HOURS working this truth and it was like SCIENCE!!!!

so…. all that being said…. i truly hope that this fires you up and gives you a glimpse of your power. and i truly, truly hope it’s just as therapeutic of a revelation for you as it has been for me.

be well friends. love you all

♥
SF

eight days left.

only eight days stand between me and release day. i’m VERY excited – i can’t wait for everyone to hear what i’ve been working on, thinking about, tweaking multiple times, listening to probably about a thousand times, dreaming about, and completely pouring myself into. this song means the world to me, and i think the largest reason is because it’s the beginning of many many more.

it’s the start of my purpose. it’s the first time i’m addressing the world and letting the universe know i’m here for real and ready to be used, ready to serve, to give my heart, soul, stories – really ready to give all of myself to leave this place a little better than when i came. to help people put into words things they can’t themselves understand. to really spread the message that just because you come from a mess doesn’t mean that you are a mess. you can have a dysfunctional past without the necessity of a dysfunctional future. i truly believe these things, and i’ll keep repeating them over and over again, reaching as many people as i possibly can.

i always said if i impacted one person, all of this would be worth it – everything from the good to the bad. for all the times i was going through stuff with my family, with my mental health, with everything that comes from being a child of an alcoholic… it was all worth it – so worth it that i’d do the same thing over and over again. when i’m asked what the one thing is that i’d do for free – my answer is undoubtedly share my story. looking back, i spent so much time trying to act like everything was fine, trying to fit in, be the hero, take care of everything, when all i really wanted was to tell people how confused i was and how much of a toll my home life was taking on me. all i wanted was someone to understand my confusion. shit, i’m still confused sometimes and my mind is still caught up in where i’ve been now and again. the difference is now i know where i’m going and i know there’s a greater purpose, so it helps with some of that confusion.

where am i going? i always love talking with people about this. i was chatting on the phone today and i could feel myself get really amped at this point of the conversation. for me, this isn’t just about making pretty music and laughing and having an easy life. my journey as a singer-songwriter is about doing things i never thought i could do. saying things i never thought i’d be able to say. seeing things in a way i never thought i’d see them. i thought i was hopeless, useless, and pointless, and as i continue to wake up to the dreams inside my soul and start looking at them as not only possibilities, but outcomes, everything shifts. everything changes. the shit show that i used to drown in becomes a platform that holds me up – my weaknesses become my strengths.

can’t wait to have you on this journey with me. it’s about to be one amazing, unbelievable, unapologetic ride.

♥
SF

another [quarantined] thursday.

April 23, 2020 by Sarah Faith

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i put jeans on today (yes, you read that correctly…). i’m wearing a “real” shirt (classified as one that i wouldn’t usually sleep in, or let an animal sleep on). also, big winner here, i’m wearing makeup. imagine that! weird how this “put together” state i’m in happens rarely when i’ve got nowhere to go. does going to the kitchen for numerous snacks count…?

no, but really. i do go to the kitchen a lot….

great segue…. wanna know another place i’ve been going a lot this week? mentally down a rabbit hole. not always a negative rabbit hole…. so maybe that’s not the right word, but i’ve honestly felt like i’ve been on a roller coaster of thoughts. i wake up one day and i’m like “Wooo!!! i’m killing it!! this day is going to be great!!” and the next (sometimes the next hour… or minute), i’m like “shit. what the hell. this is awful. where is this even going? you’re not doing nearly enough.” anyone else? it’s like being on a pirate’s ship in the movies in the middle of one of those stupid storms with waves about 3x as tall as the ship you’re on, but then in the morning, some 3 hours later, having the brightest, most beautiful sunshine imaginable. that’s what this week has felt like.

if you’re with me, or you know what i’m talking about, can i get a “retweet” or a hand raised or head nod or whatever….. thank you very much!!!

*deep breath* (feel free to take one with me…) sometimes the only thing i can do in a weird moment like that is just breathe. because i know it’s just a season. a possibly one minute-long season. and in one of my conversations this week, a friend of mine told me, “you’ll only fail if you quit. and Sarah, you are so crystal clear on your purpose and your why, i know you won’t quit. so that means you won’t fail.” Ay. Freaking. Men. that’s it right there. (also, contemplating getting that tattooed some place. forehead would probably be best….thoughts…?)

that’s the truth though – i know that i’m not the only one who sometimes feels a little stuck or like things aren’t going like they should. things sometimes don’t feel like they’re “going how they should” but honestly, if you take the 30,000 foot view, everything’s just as it should be. it may mean a bit of a rainy season every now and then, but honestly, there have been some STORMS… and i mean…. tornado hurricane monsoon typhoon earthquake all at once, how am i getting out of this alive S T O R M S …. but i’m still standing. and sometimes my mind is full of overwhelm and doubt and fear and every other thing that makes me just want to cry. and then the storm passes. and the sun comes out. and i’m better for it.

just something to consider – what if we could take deep breaths and assure ourselves that sunshine is always in the forecast? maybe that would make stormy times easier to handle. *shrug* just a thought!

anyway, i’ll be using this message as fuel tonight (Thursday nights!!!) on my Instagram + Facebook LIVE “Peeling Back the Layers” Episode TWO!!!!! second week in a row, so stoked. hoping to get a few more viewers than last week, and i think it’s going to be a good time!! 8pm cdt // 9pm est. Instagram doesn’t have a live link, but Facebook does!! –> www.Facebook.com/sarahfaithmusic/live <– click there!!! see ya tonight!!

♥ SF