Fear

Let’s talk about fear. What exactly is fear? It’s not a tangible force that is created by scary things, it’s an opinion that is based on person to person. Sure there are some overlaps and generalized fears like rejection, heights, abandonment and so on but what is fear? It’s an emotion. It all is based on you and what you perceive to be dangerous or threatening to you. We take life experiences and allow these to dictate things that cause fear within us. So how can we change what we are afraid of? By coming to terms with accepting it. 

For me I have plenty of fears. Dark waters, ghosts, rejection and so on. When I think of why I have a fear of these things and when they came to be I am sometimes brought back to a scenario when I felt I was no longer safe. Like for instance dark waters, I was always swimming in lakes. I was fearless and would spend hours swimming in dark water that had seaweed and plants. I never thought about it until one night I was walking along the edge of a wall that was on the lake I had just gotten out of. It was dark and out of nowhere a huge splash beneath my feet scared me and I almost fell in. Out of the corner of my eye I saw an otter jumping out of the water and realized that there was lots of creatures in the lake. I was in a state of ignorance about the water and upon finding out that there were other potential dangerous things lurking it changed my whole mentality. I went from a state of enjoyment to now not being able to be in water that I couldn’t see into. That shift was created when I realized that something is potentially dangerous to my life. 

Now people say you should just face fears in order to release them and conquer them but I say there’s more to it than just doing that. Water scared me because of the unknown, that left me questioning why the unknown was so full of fear for me. Well that’s probably because during that time in my life there were a lot of unknowns going on and my lack of control in it made everything more uncertain. That fear I gained over water wasn’t just about the water but about losing control. Learning to accept what is going on beneath the fear is how we can begin to approach facing it. 

A fear I use to have was heights, and yes to a degree I still don’t like heights but I am not afraid of them. I faced this fear by jumping out of an airplane but prior to this I was coming to terms with a few things in my life. I took the plunge because I was ready to start my self healing journey and wanted to throw myself into fear head on. Because I was prepared to face it and ready to release it jumping out of the plane allowed me to have the cathartic experience of overcoming it. 

Is there something that you find scary or you are afraid of? Then I want to challenge you to think about when you first felt that way. Was there some event or something that made this feeling of being unsafe arise? Work on healing that and then challenge yourself to then face the fear associated with it. Fear is all in our mind, it holds us back, limits us and can create a lack mindset. So the way we propel ourselves forward is by facing ourselves head on. It’s not always easy, in fact it can sometimes feel damn near impossible but again that’s just a lie we tell ourselves. 

Fear can also be used as a compass for exploring. When you do have a fear this could be a sign you are stepping outside of your comfort zone and breaking out of the box into something new. That is why using fear as a way of navigation is a great means to combating any fears that arise. We hate to be uncomfortable or uncertain which is what fear shines light on. It shows the things we should be working on or the direction we should be moving towards. Many times we look at this obstacle and run from it when in fact we should be running towards it. Fear can allow for healing of old limiting beliefs and help transform your life if you approach it in a sense of a challenge rather than an immovable force. 

Either way you look at it fear is an emotion that is within our control. We can chose how we approach it, either from a place of running away or a place of running towards. It is all up to each individual person how they chose to go. So how are you going to approach your fears in the future? Are you going to rise to meet them? Or will you avoid them at all cost. 

Today was a 7.