Faith Without Works?

I was listening to one of my favorite songs on youtube: Who Am I? By Casting Crowns when I noticed the first quote shown in the video from the bible. It is the probably one of the most quoted versus in the bible. It is Ephesians 2:8-9 saying: "For it is by grace you are saved, through faith... not works, so that no one can boast. For me it raised the age old question of "Are works required to enter the kingdom of heaven?"

Before we begin, some definitions I'm using that will help understanding of my writing:
1.) 'Faith' means claiming to believe: 'Jesus is my Lord and Savior'
2.) 'Works' means spreading the Gospel with words or actions, making your faith in Christ known in the physical realm.

And I think I've answered it in a way that would actually make both sides of the arguing happy. Let's see if it makes sense once I write it... (and if it is unsatisfying or inaccurate, please tell me!)

Problem Solving via Stream of Consciousness

For some reason, I am constantly surprised when I tend to react the same way every time when I go on vacation. After being ecstatic for a break, I immediately hit a wall and start doing nothing... Unfortunately I've never planned to do nothing for a break so I feel disappointed... which makes me not plan, do nothing, and feel more disappointed!!! Whoot! Lol. Fun freakin times... haha.

Sooooo... WHY IS THIS?!?!?!

***Now I'll stream of conscious write and see what I come up with. I apologize because my stream of conscious tends to jump around and not make a ton of sense... :) ---> After writing it, I think it made sense and will offer insight into life. Make it to the end, the conclusions are pretty solid. :)

Oh life... :)

A friend of mine wrote on her blog how she doesn't know what decision to make from all the different stresses falling on her. "A vacation from her vacation." And wishes "that a lot of her decisions didn't affect so much of everything else!" I laughed reading it because I have recently felt the same thing! And the funniest thing was that I thought of a potential solution, but for some reason I couldn't think of a solution when I was trying to figure it out for my own life. Have you ever noticed that in your own life? That you can easily offer advice or suggestions to other people but couldn't advise yourself the same way? 

I can see why my mentor Carlo Cipollina doesn't actually answer most of my questions anymore. He knows that if he literally just asked me the same question I ask him that more often than not I can answer it myself! It's just one of those weird things I guess... 

But now for the actual advice that I need to apply for my own life that I could only think of when trying to help her. Don't take yourself so seriously. Recently, I've been overanalyzing myself, my actions, and my life to the max. It is getting kind of ridiculous. It's something I repeatedly struggle with, the idea of permanentness in decision making. There are very few things that are the end of the world or the end all be all. Just pick something and go with it for a while. See what happens. :)