Fear is Meant to Serve Us
Jul 18, 2023
"Everything that you want is on the other side of fear."
--Jack Canfield
It's true. Getting outside of our comfort zone is uncomfortable because it's not predictable. Uncertainty can produce feelings of anxiety, doubt and head trash (negative self-talk.)
"I don’t think I can do this. Can I do this? Am I smart enough? Do I know enough?" These statements that reflect self-doubt don't reflect our capabilities, I think they are fear-based.
We need some mental management to stop these feelings of fear and doubt from creeping in and dominating our thoughts--because our dominant thought pattern is where our energy flows. The more we think about our doubt and fear, the bigger it gets. Our logic leaves us because the fight or flight response is invoked. We know that all the blood drains out of our brains, so we can go to battle or run.
Let’s look at fear in a different way as a tactic to manage our fears, doubts and anxieties, and our head trash. Let's perceive fear as positive rather than negative.
The purpose of fear is to serve us. Fear does not define what is possible for us or tell us what we can or can’t do. It’s not a flashing red light that says, “Stop, do not proceed. Don't go there." Okay, it's different if we are at the edge of a cliff, but we're talking comfort zone here.
Fear is a blinking yellow, proceed with caution light. It's telling us that we’re entering a place that we haven’t entered before. Fear is the just the border of the reality that we’ve experienced. This happens every time we try something new. We proceed with caution. When we were learning to walk, we hung onto that coffee table for dear life. Our first steps were very tentative. We didn't just jump on a bicycle and automatically learn to ride. We were very cautious at first. It was the same with learning to drive.
And now we do all those things perfectly, don't we?
The next time fear rears its vicious head, take a deep breath and challenge it. Ask yourself, "Is what is on the other side of fear more important?" Let your vision, your goal, your dream be your dominating thought. It will grow bigger and stronger than your fear.
Thank fear for putting you on high alert so you can proceed with caution. Fear's job is to mitigate the scary and difficult thing to which you desire to move forward. Tell it, "Your work is done, Fear, be gone."
Remember, fear does not define what is possible for us or what we can or can't do. It is telling us to proceed with caution and we can learn to do it perfectly! Do that, because you deserve to achieve your goals and dreams.