If you would have told me five years ago what my life would be like today, I would not have believed you.

Working with children in Peru

Five years ago, I had just returned from a year in rural Peru, where I had been working in social and economic development. During that year, I began studying the Bahá'í Writings. What began as an intellectual query to understand the appeal of the Bahá'í Faith quickly snowballed into an all out investigation into the Bahá'í  teachings and claims. Gradually I found myself identifying with many of its teachings and principles while feeling reluctant to accept the idea of organized religion and the concept of God. 


Formally accepting the Baha'i Faith
December 27, 2008

With time, however, I could not deny the longing in my soul, a longing that had been dismissed and suppressed, time and again, because of the materialistic society in which I had been raised that praised self-serving behavior, extreme individualism, and rigid rejection of religion. My spiritual nature had in part been ignored because I personally couldn't believe in a God that judged, punished and humiliated His subjects or in religion when religious institutions consistently failed to live by the teachings they themselves espoused and where any "educated" or "socially-conscious" person would be socially persecuted for associating with religion and spirituality in any more direct way than claiming that they are "spiritual, but not religious." In an extreme cultural climate such as this, I navigated my life, not able to feel spiritually fulfilled nor was I religiously inclined. In this world, full of extremes on every side, it was impossible to feel like a completely whole human being. 

After traveling and living in many different countries, I began to recognize the obvious truth that humanity is one. We are one, interconnected, interdependent whole body. Hurt to one part of the body affects the whole. Violence and war in one part of the globe impacts lives in another part of the world. We are not immune. The recognition of this truth is key to living a meaningful life—and was a major factor in my own spiritual awakening and transformation.


Over the course of a few years, I read a bit on different religious traditions but it wasn't until I studied the Bahá'í teachings that I felt I found a complete, well-rounded, no nonsense body of spiritual and practical life guidance. Five years ago, when I formally accepted the Bahá'í Faith it was only the tip of the iceberg, the beginning of a spiritually empowering and transforming process that has brought me further in life than I could have ever imagined it would. 

With my husband at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa, Israel


I would have never imagined that within the last five years, I would have spent half of that time as a volunteer in the Holy Land, serving at the administrative and spiritual center of the Bahá'í Faith. I would have never imagined that I would be married to an incredibly loving man from Catalonia and that we would have a sweet son. I would have never imagined how much capacity I had to transform—how much personal growth I would have accomplished. There is so much beauty, harmony, grace, and love in my life. All of these blessings are from the grace of God.* 

The three of us

What has transpired over these five years continually confirms the decision I made five years ago when I accepted with my whole heart and soul the teachings. The road has not been easy as it is the one less traveled. As the poet Robert Frost once finely wrote:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

*To anyone who doesn't believe in God, I know this could potentially sound "crazy", "irrational", etc. I was just like you most of my life. And your reasoning is most likely incredibly valid, depending on the framework from which you are operating and how you define and understand the word "God." Even if you never end up agreeing or believing, I encourage you to seek to understand why anyone would choose this path, not for yourself so much as it will provide you with a greater worldview and perspective that will come in handy throughout your life.

We all struggle with ourselves

Some days I wake up in the worst of moods. Whether it is feeling unmotivated, worried, stressed or just low, no amount of prayer brings me up. I know that we all have choices in life and we can really choose how we react to these things. We can become a slave to emotional, circumstantial or hormonal changes or we can put them in their place and overcome them. This is a choice we have to make daily and we must always be on guard lest something prevents us from realizing our power to choose. We are not always conscious that we have control over our thoughts, feelings and moods. And even if we are conscious, the effort required to change these things may be great.  There are a couple of Writings from the Bahá'í Faith that help me during these times when I remember them and focus my attention on them:

Be not the slave of your moods, but their master. But if you are so angry, so depressed and so sore that your spirit cannot find deliverance and peace even in prayer, then quickly go and give some pleasure to someone lowly or sorrowful, or to a guilty or innocent sufferer! Sacrifice yourself, your talent, your time, your rest to another, to one who has to bear a heavier load than you. - attributed to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 

I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content. Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness. -‘Abdu’l-Bahá

We must strive to attain to that condition by being separated from all things and from the people of the world and by turning to God alone. It will take some effort on the part of man to attain to that condition, but he must work for it, strive for it. We can attain to it by thinking and caring less for material things and more for the spiritual. The further we go from the one, the nearer we are to the other. The choice is ours. -‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Watch over yourselves, for the Evil One is lying in wait, ready to entrap you. Gird yourselves against his wicked devices, and, led by the light of the name of the All-Seeing God, make your escape from the darkness that surroundeth you. Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self. The Evil One is he that hindereth the rise and obstructeth the spiritual progress of the children of men. - Bahá’u’lláh

Shoghi Effendi with his Grandfather, 'Abdu'l-Baha

There is a story of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, who in his early 20's was called upon to give up his life and become the Head of the Faith. This placed a great burden on him and he took leave to the mountains of Switzerland to rest, grieve the loss of his dear Grandfather, come to terms with the fact that he had been appointed Guardian and prepare himself to take on these heavy responsibilities. It has been related that he said that "he fought with himself until he conquered himself and then he turned himself over to God and became the Guardian." (from a talk by Hand of the Cause of God, Leroy Ioas)

In the following prayer, one commits to being positive, to let go of all the negative and to put their trust in God, regardless of what is happening in one's life: 

O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life.

O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself. I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord.

This is something all of us must do. Whether or not we believe in God, we have to conquer ourselves in order to make progress and enjoy success in this world. We have to work hard every day in order to advance. If we want to enjoy success in our families or careers, it means we have to dedicate ourselves to these things, to becoming better, to advancing and to overcoming the inevitable obstacles that we will face. At any moment, we could feel discouraged, tired or burnt out but life requires us to overcome these feelings and challenges in order to get where we want to be. This is why it is so important to be aware of our own power to influence our own destiny - a destiny which is a consequence of our daily actions, habits and thoughts.  

Be generous in your days of plenty, and be patient in the hour of loss. Adversity is followed by success and rejoicings follow woe. Guard against idleness and sloth, and cling unto that which profiteth mankind, whether young or old, whether high or low. - Bahá’u’lláh

One final note: This is not a simple or easy thing to do. To change one's thought, feeling, habit requires daily effort, patience and discipline. It is not something that happens overnight or the first time you try. All that is being asked is that we make the effort, not that we see immediate results. I think it can be easy to become discouraged with all this talk about self-empowerment because it can seem very idealistic; unrealistic and disconnected from the reality of so many people. This is something that requires a long-term commitment and viewing our daily efforts as a long-term process. It is the baby steps that help us little by little become better over time - not one giant leap at one moment in time.

Let each morn be better than its eve and each morrow richer than its yesterday. -Bahá’u’lláh