How Fear Serves And Protects You
Published on 17 Mar 2010 at 8:12 am.
4 Comments.
Filed under Courage Series, Personal Development Strategies, Special Events, Spirituality & Inspiration.
Fear is all around us in the world and part of our daily existence. We are bombarded by fear messages in upbringing, our conversations, the media, advertisements, and global conditions. Fear is part of the environment and culture on the planet. The air isn’t safe, the water isn’t safe, your home needs protection, cultures are controlled by fear through terror, rules, restrictions… and there’s a lot of money to be made by keeping people in fear.
So, it has become “normal” for you to have been conditioned to live in fear in some form.
You’ve been brainwashed to believe you should be afraid about the future, money, relationships, health, jobs and careers, the economy, business downturns, LIFE survival…All of this produces sleepless nights filled with worry and doubt that create a gloomy outlook on life.
Fear might also be hereditary. If your whole upbringing was surrounded by fear and ruled by fearful statements to the point that it’s now at the cellular level then your outlook on life is already framed to believe that LIFE is scary and painfull.
In my practice, I continually hear people express their fears, worries and doubts about their circumstances and the future. Our mind can paint the most horrific worse case scenario that can be convincing as highly probably or likely to happen. We are powerfull story tellers and when we begin to believe and validate the things we imagine, we can lose faith, trust, and courage to show up for both the joys and bumps that make life rich and meaningfull.
Last week I had a meltdown. I’ve had some minor medical challenges that have not been resolved and some business issues that have been stressfull. And when I am not feeling my best and getting lots of rest, I’m pretty reactive and cranky. My fears escalate, my self-talk turns negative, and my energy drops. So there I was sliding right into my victim and I blasted God for all the things I am unhappy about. I expect God can handle my anger and upset when my life is feeling hard and messy. So after about 30 minutes of stomping around, crying, complaining, and yelling at God, I could feel the calmness spreading within me and my mind began to clear.
The release of pent up energy was so freeing because I gave myself permission to blow and let loose in a healthy way. Then I was able to go into contemplation, prayer, and meditation to reconnect with my soul for comfort and guidance AND to ask for help.
It is hard to hear the voice of your heart when you have all that noise going on in your head! When we keep things bottled up inside and don’t release it, that’s when we can create illness, physical and emotional problems and I was not willing to partner with that.
In my spiritual mastermind group we chuckle when we hear about our meltdowns. Of course we have them. We’re human and we get caught up in our own dramas. We nod in compassionate understanding of having been there and done that. We also know how to shift out of the illusions of our mind and reconnect with our faith, trust and courage in the times when fears run high and confidence is shaky.
Ways your fear serves and protects you:
- Keeps you out of harm’s way by alerting you to danger
- Helps you to discern when you need to set healthy boundaries to be safe and protected
- Supports you in developing courage to show up to LIFE
- Builds faith in yourself, others, and God
- Provides motivational and inspirational energy to move forward
It has been my experience that when you get to the heart and essence of most fears, the greatest fear is fear of dying which might mean actual physical death. More often the fears we experience, that can feel enormous during periods of upheaval, change, uncertainty, and transition, is the ego’s irrational fear of annihilation and the battle waged inside us in it’s struggle to survive and maintain control.
Irrational fears have their genesis from past experiences, real and imagined. Fear is generated by your ego and typically fueled by compelling illusions, anticipated outcomes, and expectations about the future.
When we are engaged in irrational fear we are not in the NOW and we are disconnected from Source. Being aware of that simple truth can help you to take the steps to shift back to your Essence with God.
When faced with the emergence of irrational fear, having the ability to distinguish between legitimate ones can make the difference between feeling clobbered or being able to transform them with courage and clarity.
Signs of an Irrational Fear
- Is highly emotionally charged
- Has catastrophic, self-deprecating, or illusional content that diminishes centeredness and perspective
- Inconsistent with the present reality
- Lacks gut-centered confirmation or knowingness
- Reflects past psychological, emotional, physical, or wounds
Courage is not the absence of fear!
Courage is about following your heart in spite of what your mind and feelings are telling you. Courage is an act of love and faith to do what is right and true for you; to be willing to do whatever it takes because you must!
Each person expresses and experiences courage differently. Courage is an internal feeling that can be powerfully directed outward in the world as an expression of your heart’s desires and soul’s intentions for your life path. Ultimately, courage has little to do with what you might view as heroism and heroic acts and everything to do with the choices you make every moment and every day throughout the course of your life. Acts of courage can be seemingly small yet powerfull in the ways you can transform yourself and your life.
You came into this life with everything you need to fulfill your life purpose. This is truer than you may realize.
The key to transforming fear is with your relationship with your essential SELF and God/The Divine/ Higher Power/Source… Cultivating faith, trust, and courage is an inside job. That’s why doing the inner work is so important! If you have so much noise going on in your head, how can you hear the whispers of your heart?
When you walk in faith, trust, and courage with an open heart to share your love, gifts, and passions with the world in partnership with Source, fear loses power to hold you back from your destiny.
Is fear inspiring more faith, trust, and courage or is it keeping you up at night with worry and doubt?
Is fear empowering you or holding you back from fulfilling your dreams and desires?
Is fear inviting connection with others or keeping love at arm’s distance?
Do you see fear as something to befriend or something to “get rid” of?
Is fear giving you the courage to speak from your heart or is it silencing your voice?
Imagine partnering with your fear and dancing with the Universe to fulfill your life path……
What would be possible?
Turn fear into courage in my new 8 week program: From Spark to Flame: Awakening Your Courageous Heart will help you release your fears, cultivate a deeper connection with your SELF and Divinity to experience more faith, trust, and courage to have a more abundant and joyfull life. The program begins 4/14 and I am offering a very special tuition for a limited number of registrations. * space is very limited. Register for the FREE preview calls on 3/23 & 3/31!
Cheers,
Lorraine
www.isayyesnow.com
www.powerfull-living.biz
Maria Triano on 17 Mar 2010 at 9:10 am: 1
i was just talking to my husband about this topic this morning!
Good stuff, Lo! Thank you for being you and putting so many wonderful things out there for all of us to learn from! xo
lorraine on 17 Mar 2010 at 9:21 am: 2
Thank you sweetie. We seem to be in many synchronicities these days, eh?
Big hugs!
Lo
Loren Fogelman on 3 Apr 2010 at 8:13 pm: 3
Hi Lorraine,
The motto I have embraced over the past year is “if it is uncomfortable than I ought to be doing it.” As a result, I have been able to transform many limiting beliefs which have held me back for many years. It has been very freeing for me.
In fact as a result of that mindset, I just released one more block this past week as I underwent a medical procedure. One that I had been avoiding for so long because of fear.
Acceptance and connection with source, plus a fabulous support system, have helped me to move forward. I am so grateful for what I have done.
lorraine on 5 Apr 2010 at 11:48 am: 4
Hi Loren
I would add that there are times when fear serves to alert us that something we are resisting is worth not doing. Being able to make that distinction between when we are resisting something that is for our best and highest good and when it is isn’t is the key.
Congratulations on all the ways you have come to know who you are and the support you have created that keeps you strong and connected to Source.
Hugs,
Lo