My View of Religion

Growing up I was introduced to two different religions; my father’s side of the family is Buddhist and my mother’s side of the family is Catholic. I was never really pressured into going for one religion over the other; my parents wanted my siblings and me to be able to choose what religion we liked most on our own, even if it was not Buddhism or Catholic. Although my father and grandmother both practice regularly, my mother’s side of the family does not practice regularly. My grandmother, on my father’s side, is a pioneer member of Buddhism. Growing up I would see my grandmother and my dad chant and would attend meetings with them but was never really interested in practicing the religion. Throughout elementary school, I went to CCD and made my first communion and later in high school made my confirmation; although I went through with both ceremonies, I was not interested in making my first communion or confirmation but did it for my family. After being introduced to both religions and practicing, or attempting to practice both religions, I came to the conclusion that I do not completely believe in a religion; I believe that things happen for a reason and people’s actions affect their lives instead of their lives being set out for them before they were even born. I do not believe in a higher God and do not believe in a second or other life. I believe people where brought to this earth to make whatever they want to make of themselves and those who do good deed will have better karma. Since I do not believe in God and do not like going to church, I do not want to get married in a church, which my mother’s side of the family hates so they try to force me to getting married in a church instead of a beach where I want to get married. My godparents, who are also my aunt and uncle, say it is their duty as my godparents to raise me as a Catholic and to get me to go to church weekly. It’s my life and I should be able to determine what I believe in and do not believe in right? Whenever I tell them that they all just get worked up even more and try to get me to go to church more, which I do not understand because none of them go to church weekly or read the bible. My religious lineage is lenient with my parents but with the rest of my family it is a big deal. My spiritual views have changed my life because I do not believe my life has been set out for me by a higher power, so I know what I do now will affect me later, whether it’s an hour from now or 5 years from now. I do not believe in fate; people change their minds and decisions all the time, which will change the coarse of your life or their life. I make my decisions based off of what I know will be good for me and others in the future rather than thinking things will sort out somehow. I am not the type of person to just sit around hoping God has something better in store for me; I take action and make the best out of every situation because only you can change your life, no one else can change you or your life. Although I do not believe completely in one religion, I do believe in parts of Buddhism; I do believe in karma and that that if you have a positive attitude about something negative in your life, you have the power to change the outcome to a source of benefit. Now that I am older, I do believe more in Buddhism than in Catholicism; I do not believe in chanting myoho-renge-kyo, but I do believe that tapping into your inner-self will help you with communicating with others and change the outcome of the situations you have to face by preparing you to have a positive attitude and having the power to overcome any obstacle. I am still trying to figure out all my thoughts on what makes the life go round but each year my thoughts on religion become clearer and clearer.