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I became Catholic last month, and I’ve been practising the faith for just under a year, and it’s helping me massively to become more virtuous and more grounded.

But it’s not the ultimate solution. Yes, my faith helps me, but I still struggle with vice and sin like anyone else. I just have my faith to pull me up when I’m in a funk, whereas when I wasn’t a practising Christian, I had no belief system to pull me out of my funk.

I’ve found that practising my faith gives me optimism to believe that no matter what I’m going through, things will get better as long as I keep going to church, keep praying and keep trying to be a virtuous person.

But even when doing everything by the book and right, life can still go against you because ultimately some things are out of our control.

Some people use this fact to be pessimistic, but I try not to and instead try to bear in mind the following advice from Saint Augustine:

“God does not command the impossible, but by commanding he instructs you both to do what you can and to pray for what you cannot, and he gives you his aid to enable you.”

I know it’s easier said than done, but try not to let things out of your control affect you too much. 

Just focus on what you can do. Because that’s all you have power over.

I know I’m giving this advice, but honestly I fail at it all the time.

That’s one of the reasons I’m writing this.

Hopefully it internalises in my mind better now.

And hopefully it does the same for you.