How do we maintain faith thru sadness and doubt?

Q:  I'm wondering what others, people, who are seeking a more creative way of life do in their own dark moments. How do you handle that dark-night of the soul? How do we maintain faith thru bone numbing loneliness, sadness and doubt? Maybe doubt is the worse of all, doubt about yourself, love, friends, the path you have chosen too walk.

A:  To a large degree, each of us walks alone, and on a unique path. My answers may not be the right answers for you. I have no training or credentials that may qualify me to offer advice of any kind. Still, I have a few thoughts, and hopefully some might lighten your load on those darker days.

• The more you’re capable of feeling pain, the greater your capacity for joy will be.
  
• Darkness passes, and things are never as bad as they seem at the time.
  
• Allow your feelings to be felt. Go ahead and feel the darkness, don’t judge it “bad”, the judgment might only increase your sensitivity to it, making things seem worse than they are, and for the mere fact that you may dwell on them (by judging them), you may only perpetuate them.
  
• Loneliness and other emotions requiring others to overcome, is best tackled by taking “baby steps” in the direction you’d like to go. Dealing with people can seem overwhelming, particularly if there aren’t many now in your life. Join a club, go for walks, visit parks, go to the mall, get out, even if some of these things won’t lead to introductions, just taking steps towards “people” will help end feelings of isolation, and will likely lead you to take other steps that you can’t now see.
  
• You are not your emotions. When you feel negative, realize it’s just a feeling, not who you are, nor who you’re going to be.
  
• If you feel depressed and uncertain, it’s usually because you feel powerless. Ask yourself why. Why, as an Unlimited Being of Light worthy to receive your days in this paradise of time and space, should you feel limited?
  
• Having doubts means looking back. Don’t bother. No matter what decisions you’ve made, the Universe is now dealing with them on your behalf. It’s conspiring, at full throttle, to make all your dreams come true, right from where you are today. It hasn’t given up, nor should you. It hasn’t judged you, nor should you. Help the Universe out here. It’s still aiming for all the joys that lay ahead. Might as well make the best of wherever you are, and keep focusing on where you want to go, not where you’ve been.
  
• USE the past as you might use a ladder – as a tool to go where you want to go, not an anchor.
  
• Don’t punish yourself for your “mistakes”, simply learn from them.
  
• No matter what path you’ve chosen to walk, KNOW THIS… whether or not it’s now apparent, you chose the right one.