“When you say or do anything to please, get, keep, influence, or control anyone or anything, fear is the cause and pain is the result.”
~Byron Katie
If you’re like most people, there is more fear driving your behavior than you could ever imagine. Fear is behind just about every pattern you play out that doesn’t serve you. It’s the reason you get stuck, the subtle agitation you feel that keeps you from experiencing the peace you long for. If you want to be happy, it’s essential to learn how to deal with it.
Unexamined fear is at the root of our personal suffering. And bringing it out into the light of conscious awareness is a huge step toward freedom from it.
You can assume that fear will never go away. So if you’re waiting to be free of fear, you’re going to be waiting for a very long time.
Instead, here’s how to handle it. Get to know fear intimately. Bring it out of the shadows of your mind, heart, and body so you can recognize it.
Then, you can make a choice. You can let yourself be hijacked by fear and respond to its limits. Or you can turn away from it and choose the truth that wants to speak through you.
It’s a matter of limits or infinite possibility. Fear or love. Constriction or true freedom.
Do the work to meet fear lovingly. You’ll discover that the ease you seek is more available than you could ever imagine.
In the next few posts over the next week or two, we’ll look at fear more directly. How does it hide out in your programmed habits? How can you meet it in openness? If fear isn’t the driver, what is?
For now, I offer you this reflection. Sit quietly, and ask yourself:
- Am I willing to get to know fear?
- How does fear live in me?
- How does it drive my behavior?
Feel free to share your discoveries in the comments. And if you’re reading this by email, click here to go to GailBrenner.com and to comment.
You’re about to embark on an exploration for truth and authenticity. Who are you really? Not the fearful self you think you are.
Always in love,
