WEEKLY DIRECTIVE: An Exercise in Freedom From Fear

This week's directive is an exercise created to help us see how much of our reality is affected by our fear. Fear of failing, fear of success...fear of losing people, fear of the unknown, fear of death...I could go on and on. Let me be clear before we start the exercise that I am not speaking about rational fears, as these are designed to help keep us alive...I am speaking of the fears that come to imprison us.

So, the exercise is pretty simple. Get prepared to write your responses to these questions. What FEARS have you allowed to build to a degree that they are a large part of your decision process? Do you avoid taking chances or trying new things because you are afraid of looking like an idiot...do you avoid traveling outside of your comfort zone because you fear the unknown? Have you lost out on relationships because you were too afraid to invest, be vulnerable, expose yourself or commit? Have you been staring down a path of opportunity, yet find yourself paralyzed by fear? Write down all of the circumstances in your life in which fear holds you back.

Now, imagine you are sitting there looking at a snapshot of your life with all of these fears fully integrated. Now imagine you could pull back a layer of that photograph, like a filter, removing those fears. What would life look like without your irrational fears? What would you do differently...where would you go...who would you love...what paths would you follow? How much time would you gain in your daily routine...how much would your "happiness" percentage get bumped up...how would your energy level be affected?

Do you like that version better? The point is, of course, if you can see it...it just might be possible. Keep visiting that image in your mind...remove that filter and stay in that space for a while every day. We are not to be ruled by fear...we are meant to live, not just survive.

Please share your thoughts by commenting...

Comments

[Dave Mirich]

An excellent topic -- fear. I have always thought of fear as the hub and all negative thoughts and emotions as spokes radiating outward from it. I often refer back to the words of Bill Wilson:

"Fear. This short word somehow touches about every aspect of our lives. It is an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence was shot through with it. It set in motion trains of circumstances which brought us misfortune we felt we didn't deserve. But did not we, ourselves, set the ball rolling? Sometimes we think fear ought to be classed with stealing. It seems to cause more trouble." (P. 67:2, 'Alcoholics Anonymous')

For further, provocative discussion of this topic see: http://first164.blogspot.com/2010/05/evil-and-corroding-thread.html

Dave

[Erin Williams]

Dave...thanks so much for the wonderful contribution!

[Jovi Weedon]

Nice topic! Well for me, There are only 2 Types of Fear. The 1st one is GOD-based, an example of God-based fear is where when an individual is walking down a flooded street and he/she notices a downed power line in a not so distant area. The high possibility of Bodily harm or imminent death is around the corner, and you are overwhelmed with that feeling. The 2nd type of Fear is Self-Based Fear, these are the ones that represent a F-aulse E-vidence A-ppearing R-eal type of fear. An example of this are numerous to mention but one of them is, the fear of Rejection, we haven't even asked the individual the question and we are already Fearful of the response, Asking our Boss for a raise or time off, or reassignment or so on and so forth. In conclusion, God-Based Fear is something we need to be very aware of and plan around with,with Guidance from that inner voice that we all have inside of us. That 2nd type of Fear is just Anxiety, the way to overcome that is to live Intentional and speak truth into People's hearts and expect nothing short of what you desire in your life. Namaste!