Fear

To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.- Helen Keller

Whilst browsing the internet this morning I came across a very interesting article on fear. It is quite interesting to note that although I find myself facing a fear of mine today, I was randomly browsing and not looking for anything related to the way I am feeling. I like the way fate so often intervenes in our lives and leads us to see or read things that are pertinent at a specific time.

In the article “The courage to live consciously”, by Steve Pavlina, he names courage as the ability to face down imaginary fears and reclaim the far more powerful life that you've denied yourself. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of going broke. Fear of being alone. Fear of humiliation. Fear of public speaking. Fear of being ostracized by family and friends. Fear of physical discomfort. Fear of regret. Fear of success.

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.
- Mark Twain

"Courageous people are still afraid, but they don't let the fear paralyze them. People who lack courage will give into fear more often than not, which actually has the long-term effect of strengthening the fear. When you avoid facing a fear and then feel relieved that you escaped it, this acts as a psychological reward that reinforces the mouse-like avoidance behaviour, making you even more likely to avoid facing the fear in the future. So the more you avoid asking someone out on a date, the more paralyzed you'll feel about taking such actions in the future. You are literally conditioning yourself to become more timid and mouse-like.

Such avoidance behaviour causes stagnation in the long run. As you get older, you reinforce your fear reactions to the point where it's hard to even imagine yourself standing up to your fears. You begin taking your fears for granted; they become real to you. You cocoon yourself into a life that insulates you from all these fears

Twenty years pass, and you realize that your life hasn't changed all that much. You've settled down. All that's really left now is to live out the remainder of your years as contently as possible and then settle yourself into the ground, where you'll finally achieve total safety and security.

But still, that tiny voice in the back of your mind recalls that this isn't the kind of life you wanted to live.

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

The way out of this vicious cycle is to summon your courage and confront that inner voice.

See if you can reduce that voice to just a single word or two. What is it telling you to do? Leave. Quit. Speak. Write. Dance. Act. Exercise. Sell. Switch. Move on. Let go. Ask. Learn. Forgive."

I have yet to figure out what my word is for the day . Certain derogatory terms keep coming to mind but I am certain this was not what the author intended. I will indeed work through this and come up with something more constructive before the weekend is through.

I do recommend that you read the whole article , It’s inspiring ! http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/courage-to-live-consciously.htm