Universal Magazine November 2018 Universal Magazine November 2018 | Page 10

10
Love
1
You panic
You start crying, then you update your
Facebook status letting everyone know about it. It’s
normal for you to have an emotional reaction to an
unexpected problem but in the case of someone who
panics, this reaction persists and sadness sets off
anxiety.
3 WAYS
2
You leave everything
down to hope
You tell yourself, ‘I don’t know how to solve
this problem, so I’m going to hope for the
best.’ Sometimes we think the solution is
out of our reach and that all we can do
is believe that things will get better. In
most cases we have this reaction, we
are just being lazy. The only reaction
that really brings a solution to the
problem is the following:
people react
to problems
3
You act intelligently
You decide to put your faith into practise
immediately with the following mindset: ‘No problem!
I’m going to fight back by starting to look for ways to
change this right now.’ Unfortunately, very few
people react like this! But if you want to
conquer your problems, you have to face
them. You can’t give up on your goals
or become sentimental about every
difficulty that crosses your way. You
must believe that there are ways to
overcome problems!
Source: uckg.org
‘Her faith influenced me’
M
ariana: ‘I was going
through a very rough
patch in my life. There
were problems in my family, I
felt troubled and anxious. At the
same time, Gustavo was facing
financial problems. Nothing
was happening in his life and
it left him with a deep sadness
and low self-esteem. He didn’t
know how to help me, nor could
I help him.
My aunt who attends the
Universal, encouraged me
to get help there and I did.
I was warmly received and
began to learn how to tackle
and overcome my problems.
I was very excited about this
opportunity for change that
seemed to have worked for so
many people, but Gustavo was
not interested. That frustrated
me. I realised that this big
difference in the way we thought
and our goals was not healthy for
our relationship; it was creating
a distance between us.
At first, my attitude was to
try to convince him at any
cost that he should attend
the meetings with me so
that we could fight together
to overcome our problems.
I thought if I was pushy and
nagging, he would understand
There was also a big change
in her, she was much calmer,
happier and confident. The way
she acted upon her beliefs began
to influence me in a good way. I
could see her life changing for the
better and though I was stubborn
to admit it, I wanted the same. I
didn’t want mine to remain the
same, so I decided to put my pride
aside and attend the Universal
meetings with her.
1 year into Mariana
and Gustavo’s
relationship, they
faced various
issues that they
didn’t know how to
resolve. Mariana
sought help, but
Gustavo was
not willing to do
the same. This
eventually created a
rift between them.
how important the guidance was
for both of us, but that didn’t
work. If anything, it would only
irritate him all the more.
Among the things I was learning,
I heard about the method of the
Challenge of Faith and I decided
to try it for myself. Taking part
in it gave me the assurance
that God could do what I could
not do and also make Gustavo
understand what I could not
explain to him. And that’s
I could see her life
changing for the
better’
exactly what happened.’
Gustavo: ‘I was completely
unhappy with my life, but I was
so discouraged that I did not
believe that anything offered at the
Universal could help me. It seemed
so unrealistic so I would always
turn down Mariana’s invitations.
She was trying to show me the
opportunity I was missing, but I
was too upset by her insistence
that I isolated myself. But little
by little I began to notice that she
stopped pestering me to go with
her. At the same time, it was
impossible for me not to notice that
the more she attended, the better
the situation in her family became.
I understood that in order to
achieve my goals, I had to
put my faith into action. This
meant that I had to go against
my sadness and fight with
confidence for the things I
needed, for example, a new job.
It was only after I did this that
things started to improve for
me. I got a good job, regained
my self-esteem and learned to
overcome obstacles with an
intelligent faith. Thanks to the
Universal’s help and support,
we have managed to overcome
our difficulties and now work
together to build our lives.’
Mariana: ‘Today, my family
is blessed, as is my marriage
with Gustavo. We are a team
and happy!’
Gustavo & Mariana Figueiredo