The Nature of Fear
When the word fear is brought up, chances are different thoughts, feelings, emotions, and body sensations arise for all of us. Maybe they arise in unique combinations based on our individual experiences, and yet, they still arise. That is what we are going to explore today - the nature of fear.
To begin, we need to understand why fear exists and how it benefits us.
Fear is wired into our bodies for a purpose.
Fear helps protect us.
Fear alerts us to danger and asks us to prepare.
Fear is helpful in some situations.
Fear can act like a warning to be careful and aware.
Fear gives us information.
Fear generally appears in the flight, fight, freeze, fawn, and faint responses. Again each serves a purpose.
Fight - The brain and body mobilize for an altercation.
Flight - The brain and body prepare to run away.
Freeze - The brain and body strive to keep quiet and still.
Fawn - The brain works to please whatever is triggering the fear.
Faint - The brain has the body shut down to appear dead.
While the above is a simplistic overview, it gives us an idea of the purpose and manifestations of fear. We need to honor fear for how it helps us! That then frees us to take a step beyond and understand how fear may show up in ways and areas of our life that may be hampering our experience of life.
Fear can hold us back from trying new things.
Fear can tell us that we can’t accomplish our dreams.
Fear colors our perspective.
Fear causes us to shut down to possibilities.
Fear narrows our field vision.
Fear cuts us off opportunities.
Fear can show up in the word “no” when we know we have the ability and skills.
Fear can be apparent, or it can be sneaky in how it shows up. No matter how it shows up when blocking us from living our lives fully, we first need to cultivate an awareness of how fear lives in our bodies.
Here are some questions to consider:
What thoughts come into your mind?
What body sensations arise? Are they subtle or are they loud?
What images come into your mind?
What movements does your body do?
When we can understand the signs of fear, we can then befriend our fear, thank it, and then invite courage and self-compassion to the party so that we can act from that place instead of the fearful place. Self-compassion allows us to honor this journey and not be perfect in understanding our fear responses. Courage allows us to take that leap of faith and empowers us to look for a different perspective that acknowledges the fear and lets us know that we still can accomplish our dreams and goals.
Going through this process is not linear, nor is it easy. What can be said is how worth it is to discover that fear does not have to govern your life.
Never let fear decide your fate!
Purple swirls on a black background.
take action today moment:
Begin to understand your fear. Once you explore the questions above, invite your fear into a conversation. That conversation can look so many different ways. You can:
Dance with your fear
Draw with your fear
Run with your fear
Write with your fear
And the list can go on. The point is, though, you invite fear and leave judgments out. You come to the conversation with an open heart, willing to listen and learn from your fear so you can say thank you and then take the next steps.