“How do I deal with old fears ?”
Question: Do you have any inspiration on how to deal with fears I’ve been encountering that have been around for a long time?
Answer: This may sound surface, but I love what the letters of FEAR spell out – “False Evidence/Education Appearing Real.” Because fear really is a false concept. Fear is simply the opposite side of faith. Fear means you’re confident that what you fear will happen.
But to deal with the old ones means you need to access them. Recognize that they served you in the past, but you’ve outgrown the need for them. It can be scary, because they’ve limited you for so long that they’ve gotten to be a comfortable, ratty old blanket. And they can give you the excuse not to move forward and risk.
What I’ve discovered is that when you face your fears, step out and begin to do what you fear, many times the fear evaporates because it realizes that you don’t need it anymore.
Sometimes, when I do begin to confront and go beyond the fear, it begins to fight back, because it thinks I still need it. In that case, I find out what the core issue is. Once, it was a belief that I had to struggle in life to avoid others’ criticisms.
What is it that you’re truly afraid of? Meditate on that, and see what might come up. You may find that it’s simply a hollow habititual way of thinking.
Also, you might meditate to find out how the fear is serving you now, in present day. For instance, my need to struggle kept me from fully expressing myself, and kept me safe. I may have been criticized, but as long as I was struggling, no one could complain I wasn’t working. And my results, which never happened, couldn’t be criticized.
Once I decided that it was safe to move on, and who cares if someone doesn’t like what I’m doing, the struggle issue let go.
Copyright 2003, 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
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