Overcoming Fear
Friday the 13th is supposed to be an ominous day full of bad luck for those who are unwary. Of course, there is nothing scientific about this, it’s just fun. However, fear itself often stops us from striving towards our goals. So how do we overcome our fears in order to reach where we want to go?
Know your fear
When you feel that pit of discomfort in your stomach, an excuse bubbling up in your throat or the urge to run and flee, you need to dig in and sift through to find out the cause. Often, something will give us a fear response, but it isn’t necessarily what is triggering the feeling. It may be the fear of the unknown, failure or even success! When you feel those physiological responses, take some time and ask yourself what is causing those responses.
Understand your fear
Once you know what is causing the fear response, you can investigate why that scares you. Look to your past, people are creatures of patterns after all. Have there been occasions in your past where this fear has crept up, and hurt or embarrassed you? Not only do we follow patterns, we will do almost anything to protect ourselves from pain. If we have learned in the past that an experience has hurt us, we will do almost anything to avoid it. However, we must face fear if we want to overcome it.
Plan to face your fear
Make sure you have a network around you to help. Supports could include the following: people like friends and family, practices like therapy and self-care or medication. Whatever you need to overcome your fear, make sure you surround yourselves with positive energy. This also means prune away negative supports like toxic friends and family and bad habits that take away your energy and focus. Your mind needs to be healthy and focused to overcome your fear.
Face your fear
It may take a few hours to come to this stage, or it may take years. Remember, you may get knocked down a few times. Consistency is important. Only by facing what frightens us, can we control them; it takes courage and humility. In my mind, anyone who searches within themselves and comes face to face with their fears is a hero.
Be vulnerable
Consider sharing your story and your strategy with others. You never know who you will help. There are always people going through similar struggles that we did. Sharing your experiences with others will help you, and others, to realize we aren’t alone.
No matter what your fear is, know that you can overcome it. Take some time to read about positive self-talk, it will be an ally for you to help overcome your obstacles.