Sunday Story...Who's Afraid

Sunday Story…Who’s afraid?

Fear. We all have it, even those of us who won’t admit it. Even those people who, when you watch them, appear to be fearless. It is one of the universal human experiences. Fear.


F. (False)
E. (Evidence)
A. (Appearing)
R. (Real)

What are you afraid of? What is your biggest fear? Do you know why? What are you going to do about it? Do you need to do anything about it? Do you know what you are afraid of? Have you ever really explored it? Or is it too scary? Maybe the F.E.A.R. is not at the top of your mind but are you allowing it to run as an undertow in your life…stopping you from making decisions, and making commitments that would change your life?

Here are some of mine:
I am afraid I will die penniless, alone and afraid.
I am afraid that my business will fail and I will have no fallback position, find myself homeless, out on the street and wondering what to do now.
I am afraid I will become disabled and be unable to be physically active.
I am afraid the country I live in will never be what it once was or what it could be.
I am afraid the economic rules got changed and no one told me.
I am afraid my computer will crash and l I will lose 200+ gigs of music
I am afraid I am not as smart as I think I am.
I am afraid that no one will read this and if they do they find it insipid, moronic and without worth.
I am afraid that I have pursued the wrong path for the last 20 years.
I am afraid that all the eating right and exercising hasn’t and won’t make any difference in the quality or the length of my life.
I am afraid my children don’t love me and my parents just tolerate me out of a sense of duty to their progeny.
I am afraid my body is breaking down and I won’t accomplish the goals I have set.
I am afraid I am going to die in a car accident.
I am afraid my karma is so messed up that I am sure to be reborn as a gnat for the next several hundred lifetimes.
I am afraid that I am lying to myself about the evolution of my soul.
I am afraid to set certain goals because I might fail.
I am afraid to create a vision board because I might be wrong about what I really want.
I am afraid to make plan because I might be wrong and really screw up a pretty good thing.
I am afraid I will never be good enough for…? What? I have no idea.
I am afraid there is no way out of the life I have created without completing wrecking the one I have…a strategy that I have employed in the past to the detriment of myself and many others.
I am afraid all the good works I have done really don’t amount to much in comparison to the people I have hurt and the bad actions I have taken.
I am afraid that I will leave no legacy behind, nothing that will have me be remembered after I have extinguished this mortal coil.
I am afraid.
Whew. That was a lot to get off my chest. When you read that list you may say to yourself…”are you kidding? Why would anyone be afraid of that?” Or maybe…”what a jerk. Why does he think anyone cares?” Whoops…there’s another fear rearing its ugly little head…the fear of your censorship, your criticism and ridicule.

So what’s next? I can’t live my life in fear. Well, actually I can. I see people who do it every day. They are living in ways that define their fear. Maybe one of you reading this is doing that? Allowing your fears to define your life? It’s time to move past those fears, to move into action and fearlessness.

Everyone has fear. Everyone. Courage is looking at your fear and going ahead anyway. It is what I just did. I have been looking at this topic all week. It scared me spit less to begin to write this today. To expose my fears to you…my friends, my parents, my family, even my strangers. It’s like walking around naked when everyone else is wearing clothes and there is nothing you can do, except keep walking completely exposed.

This is one way to allay your fears. Write them down. Read them to yourself, read them to your spouse, significant other, family member, read them aloud in a crowded bus station. Once we bring these things up to the light of day we take some of their power to control and harm us away.

When I look at that list I am surprised at the depth of my fear. I am curious where those things came from. And I refuse to allow them to rule my life. I have looked at my fear and I am going ahead anyway. I have made many mistakes in my life. I will make many more. But one of my mistakes is not going to one of inaction. I am not going to crawl into my shell and hope it all turns out OK. I am going to move forward boldly and with confidence. It is my destiny and my birthright.

A quote often attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt goes something like this:
“Do one thing every day that scares you.”
That may be the best way to deal with your fear. Just Do It. Anyway.

Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
www.martialartsnevada.com

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