What is your relationship with fear?
Do you ever find yourself afraid of success or failure? Of being judged or ridiculed? Of being rejected? I know I do! Do such fears ever stop you from moving forward? From being happy? From expressing/dreaming? From sharing love? From forgiving? From revealing your actual self to the world?
Sometimes, we don’t even realize how fear is causing havoc in our lives, until we begin to explore our thoughts and feelings. And sometimes, even when we know we are afraid, we still feel paralyzed, unable to give ourselves permission to move forward. We continue to “play it safe”.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said that “fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world”. After listening closely to the lives of my therapy and coaching clients over the past 25+ years, I tend to agree with him. Besides, I too, am familiar with fear. Dealing with it is part of being human.
Very often, underneath our fear is this: I do not deserve this. I’m not worthy. Too much of this is self-indulgent. This belongs to someone else. I’m not ready yet. Thoughts like these are toxic and can cause a tragic muting of the lives we were created to live.
I love the way that author Jaiya John, puts it: “Fear stops us from composing the living poems we were sent here to be”. Listen here as he reads his poem, “Here’s The Thing About Fear” aloud. His use of exquisite language and imagery provides a powerful illustration of the way fear can affect our lives.
So back to fear and you: What is your relationship with fear?
If you’re interested in further exploration, here are some additional questions you can ask yourself:
Where is fear stopping me? What will it take for me to move forward? What thoughts generate my fears? Where do I feel my fear? How do I react to it? WTWTCH? (What’s The Worst That Could Happen?)
WTWTCH
I once saw fear described as Face Everything And Rise, and that has really stuck with me. We can’t always eliminate fear (nor would we necessarily want to), but knowing we can move forward even in the presence of fear is helpful.
Your blog always causes me to pause and reflect – thank you for that! And I *love* the line of poetry you shared: ”Fear stops us from composing the living poems we were sent here to be.” I am putting that on my desk! 🙂
“Face Everything and Rise”……..I love this description of fear, Christi! Thank you! That one is going on MY desk:) Another little phrase I like is: “Do It Afraid”. I’m enjoying your blog and newsletter too, and can’t wait for SPARK!