Consider, for a moment, what your life would look like, how it would be different, if instead of letting your fears run your life, you faced those fears. What would change? Anything? Everything?
Fear is a powerful thing.
Fear takes away our ability to enjoy different aspects of our lives.
Fear can paralyze us (not literally- ok maybe it can get that far; I don’t know) and render us helpless.
Fear comes in and robs us of our ability to move forward from where we are right now.
Fear can rule our lives.
Fear is not easy to face. In fact, facing fears can be just as, if not more, terrifying than what we are afraid of.
Fears.
What fear(s) do you have?
Could you face that fear? How?
Where Does Fear Come From?
Believe it or not, some fear is good for us. A certain amount of fear keeps us safe from harmful situations. It allows us to be alert to potential dangers and creates in us an emotional response that sends up the old red flag to avoid whatever it is that sent us into fear mode. According to EruptingMind.com, everyone is born with only 2 fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. The rest of our fears are learned!
Soooo, if fears are learned, then they can be unlearned, right? RIGHT!!
Figuring out the HOW to unlearn a fear is the difficult part, but it can be done!
8 Steps for Conquering Fear
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Identify What You’re Really Afraid Of – Is it really that little spider or is it you’re afraid of getting bit and ending up in the hospital or worse. This is a lesson in finding out what really drives your fear. Name the things that come to mind when you think about the fear
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Desensitize Yourself To The Fear (Immediate Exposure/Gradual Exposure) – You can jump in with both feet and force yourself to face your fear at a high intensity right now, or gradually begin introducing your fear into your life.
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Change The Movie In Your Head About the Fear – Change how the fear looks, feels, and is interpretted by your mind. Thoughts are more powerful than the fear itself. Take control of what that fear makes you think
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Interrupt the Pattern and Change What You Normally Do – Change rooms, change your view, change whatever you need to change to stop what you normally do when you’re facing your fear
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Play the Worse Case Scenario Game In Your Thoughts – Begin by thinking worse case scenario; then what would happen after that; and after that? You may just find your worse case scenario about your fear is unfounded
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Break the Habit – You typically do and react in the same ways to your fear, it’s a habit. Know how you respond and then change your reaction
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Reframe the Situation – Fear is usually negative, try putting a different spin on things. Change how you look at the fear.
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Mental Visualization – Imagine yourself dealing with your fear in a completely different way, a positive way. Your mind is a powerful tool, use it to create a different thught process about the fear.
Read the entire Erupting Mind article about understanding and overcoming fear HERE
Fears come in many forms and types.
We can be afraid of bugs, spiders, heights, death, and other real and physical things
OR
Fears can be more mental and emotional such as fear of failure, fear of success, fear of speaking in public, and on and on.
The good news is we don’t have to let fear rule our lives. WE HAVE CHOICES!
Isaiah 41:13 That’s right. Because I, your God, have a firm grip on you and I’m not letting go. I’m telling you, ‘Don’t panic. I’m right here to help you.’
YOUR TURN!
What are Your Fear(s)? and Are You Ready to face them?
Celebrating October 11th – National Face Your Fear Day
Just Bits and Pieces 