Facing Fear

Do you ever feel like this?

Like hiding in a box so no one can find you, least of all yourself?

I do.

Lately, almost every day.

Fear that my dreams won't be realized. Fear that they will. Fear that I'm making some critical mistake as a mom, business owner, coach, wife, everything. Fear that my next performance will be less than stellar. Fear that I'll never find the words to explain my vision - for myself, for you, for the world. Fear that being vulnerable will result in hurtful rejection. Fear that I'm doing everything all wrong and I'll never be good enough.

Sound familiar?  I'm sure you have your own to add.

Here's the thing about fear, though.

We have to make a choice.

We have to choose whether to let it dominate our lives, or not.

Every day, every moment it arises.

The fear is simply the result of the deepest most primitive part of our brain trying to keep us alive and ultimately sensing  lack or attack: we don't have something (everything!) we need and/or something bad is about to happen.  For most of us, though, these fears are no longer helpful.  Most of us don't lack for basic survival needs or are in constant danger of being attacked by predators - at least not on a regular basis.  So these fears end up pulling us away from our true self and our inner wisdom and keeping us stuck.

Due to the ancient hardwiring of our brains, getting rid of these fears is nigh on impossible.  So how do we move past them?

Name them. Write them down, like I did above.  Keep writing until you can't think of another one and then write some more.

Ask yourself: What are these fears preventing me from doing?

Then ask: If these fears weren't here, what would I do - right now?

Go and do it!

The more often we name and ignore our fears, the less power they wield and the more we can live with peace and purpose.  Tweet this! I, for one, can always use more of that!

What choice are you going to make today?  What fear are you going to face and then take action anyway?!