“What are you most afraid of?”
By Diana Renee Williams
Are you afraid of not having “enough” money or “enough” stuff? Do you fear not being good “enough” or not being successful “enough”?
Are you afraid of spending your life stuck in a dead-end job repressing your desire to live your dreams? Are you afraid of divorce, marriage or commitment? Are you afraid of being unloved, being alone or death?
We all fear something but what keeps you stuck there and how would your life change if you had no fear?
Looking back over the past eight years of my life, I realized I have been hammered with one big, smelly, rotten storm after another, drowning me emotionally while teetering on financial bankruptcy.
I’ve made tons of mistakes and stubbornly continue to do so. I have been thrown to my knees with the stench of fear breathing down my neck, smacking me in the face while challenging me to get up and do something about it.
I have been face to face with my ugly fears (on every level) and it would be super easy to place blame and say I have been the victim of another’s careless behavior…but to be completely honest, I’ve created the storm myself by refusing to face my fears.
I look at myself and often times NOT amused by the ridiculous ways in which I stay immobilized in my fear instead of acting courageously and facing my fears.
I thought of the story of The Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz who had to face his fears to get his medal of courage. He was born to be the mighty king of the jungle and although outwardly he had all the strength and ability to do so, he was as vulnerable and fearful as a mouse on the inside. He was born to rule the jungle but fear distorted his perception of himself, his situation and the outside world.
The Cowardly Lion asked the Wizard of Oz for courage and was given a liquid labeled “courage” which he FEARED was only temporary. Fear and the negativity that fear breeds distorted his thoughts so he continued to walk around on his hind legs instead of on all fours.
How many times do our thoughts cripple us and prevent us from being who we were born to be? What does it take to stand up and have courage?
Our mind and our thoughts can be our biggest enemy and biggest battleground. Fear often stems from the negative internal dialogue we have with ourselves on a daily basis. If you want to stand courageously then you must first take your thoughts captive.
The thing that has helped me more than anything is to remain open to what life wants to teach me in the times that I feel afraid and to welcome the lessons. I am gaining tons of wisdom and insight causing a major shift in my thinking and I want more than anything to show courage in the face of my deep-rooted fears.
The most absurd part of fear that I have learned is that whatever you fear the most will happen. It’s almost as if you manifest that which you fear the most for a higher purpose. The trick is to remain conscious and take back control by changing your thoughts and embrace the lessons that fear has to teach you.
It may scare the hell out of you but what ever you fear the most, you must do it.
If you can remain conscious when you are faced with your fears and not run to numb your feelings with an unhealthy habit then you face your fear by confronting the giant. You are
the master in helping retrain your brain’s responses to your fear. The battle is in your mind and if you can learn to identify and understand fear then you can change your thinking patterns and become who you were born to be.
You have NO control over any other aspect of what you fear other than changing your thoughts about the event.
Will you choose to flee, run and hide under the covers or will you choose to stand up and roar triumphantly in the face of your biggest fears?
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”–Nelson Mandela
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