Shifting Fear into Courage
Fear - False Evidence Appearing Real
When the feeling of Fear strikes it often tries to convince us that the worse case scenario is about to occur. What if I die? What if I lose them? What if I try this and fail? What if I embarrass myself? What if I Never feel better?
The obsessive worrisome questioning can create panic and imbalance in our bodies. Our chest may feel warm as our heart starts to race, our breath may become shortened, and our stomachs may feel an uneasy pain. With any “bad” news we may hear or receive we want to remind ourselves to take long deep breathes, remain steady and not make rapid decisions off of this charged emotion.
Constantly fearing our surroundings keeps us in limited state. A limited view of life can create overwhelming feelings. In addition, it produces a heaviness on our chest and tightness in our muscles. The long term effects may start to deplete the kidneys/ adrenals, and may lead to chronic fatigue as the cortisol output repairs from the stress. Long term fear may start to impact our health and can lead to a negative outlook on living and the feeling of needing to “endure” through the stress and ongoing pain.
How can we stop our fears from depleting our energy?
1. Accept that we do Not know
We must admit and accept that we don’t know the future. The worrying, and obsessing, trying to predict the outcome can take us further away from living now. Reminder: Anxiety is fear of the future. Yes, planning and preparing are responsible acts, but we must check in with ourselves and remind ourselves of the little joys right in front of us. Gratitude can change our attitude. We can reflect and ponder on all the good things we have and appreciate life now and come to acceptance of what currently is. When we stop trying to control the outcome our shoulders can relax and we can create a sense of ease down our spines.
2. Don’t Run From Fear
We might make quick impulse decisions in order to try to avoid something we are afraid of. If this is not recognized it may lead us to self sabotaging behavior patterns. Running from one failed relationship to another (afraid to be alone), one miserable job to the next (afraid to be broke), or one medical operation to the next (afraid to be broken). We assume the next time it will be better, but it’s important to slow down and sit with the unknown. Examine the pros and cons and do not rush into a big decision out of Fear. Reground, recenter, calm the body and make a decision out of neutral energy, not a highly charged emotion.
3. Question the Fear
Where is this coming from? We often may feel we are in fear of what is in front of us, but it very well can be a past survival instinct that the mind is reliving. If we continue to repress the fear this may lead to stored emotional anger. Ask yourself, why are these feelings coming up right now? They are often uncomfortable feelings that we want to ignore. At this time, it is best to dig into questioning these thoughts and emotions. This is the time to be honest with ourselves, be vulnerable with our fears, and humbly admit that these feelings do exist and do our best to treat them with kindness.
4. Be Kind to Yourself
Self love is needed to help us overcome living in fear. It’s often our inner critic that gives us so much self-doubt. It may make us feel that everything in life is going wrong, that we can’t do anything right and will most likely fail if we walk out of our comfort zone. Be kind to yourself. You have made it this far in life. Know that you are a capable productive human and can accomplish and get to where you want to be. With self love comes self respect, confidence, bravery, and that love transforms the fear into Courage.
