Full Feared

Fear is something that seems to be a common topic of discussion in our society as of late. In fact, fear has always been something that I have struggled to understand fully. This weekend, I heard a unique perspective on fear that I naturally decided needed some unpacking. My friend- you know who you are- you were correct...I am blogging about this one. Anyways, to me, fear is a concept that seems to have 2 potential outcomes. The first being fear that is debilitating and disables you from reaching your goal. The second being fear that drives you to succeed, push through, or prove someone wrong. In my life, taking the plunge and trying to ignore fear at all costs has felt like the best performing coping mechanism. Case and point, I went from east coast to west coast living rather quickly. But what about those other areas of life we fear that we can't control. Such as a big event coming up, or an extremely important meeting, or just the pressure to not fail. The friend I mentioned earlier explained to us that being fearful of something is more scary than the actual thing we fear. I thought about that for a second, and was immediately brought back to my initial logic. What if your fear was so large that it did in fact debilitate you and prevent you for achieving your ultimate goal? Or, what if your fear was so great that it fueled you to exceed expectations and surpass the initial goal you had set for yourself? My friend went deeper...he believed that the initial "fear," before the big event, was essentially unnecessary. As a means to block it out of your mind, one should consider stopping the fear in its tracks and just getting the task at hand complete so that the ultimate goal could be accomplished. But how do you do that? How do you just stare fear in the eye and tell it to go away, for good, because it does us...well, no good? Fear in the long term, is a negative use of energy of course. Spending countless amounts of time worrying, wondering, and trying to ask questions we are unable to answer disallows us from focusing on the positive, or ultimate goal, and snatches our focus away from it. As I am writing this post, I am realizing what my interpretation is of the perspective on fear my friend shared. For me, it is about giving up control. Yes, of course we need to take a certain course of action such as preparation, health, and wellness in order for us to reach our goal. But at the end of the day....that is truly all we, as humans, are able to do. Unforeseen events, circumstances, or karmic energies are completely out of our control. And the moment we are able to realize that, I think is the moment we are best able to devote our attention on what we want and go for it. There are many naysayers to this theory, and I respect your opinions. For me...everything happens for reason. So lesson learned here- the point at which we are able to give up control, and put our faith not only in ourselves, but also whichever higher power we seek, is the moment we stop fear in its tracks...and "just live ya life." Easier said than done of course, but certainly a great goal to start the week off with :)
xoxo AA