As you may know, I subscribe to several blogs on the internet. I read this article (BenCoe; Fear Less) recently, and thought that it would make for a good discussion.
We have talked previously about the different seasons in NSA Care (Discover, Transform, Awaken, Integrate; (for a more complete review, click here). In the season of Discover we are very fear-full about a great many things; fear of the past, the future, not trusting, not knowing who we are, fear of the rules, not being good enough, or there not being enough.
In the season of Transform, we begin to re-claim our power in our lives. We remove the veil so that we can see where and how we gave our power away, and then we become ready to resolve these issues. Through this process, our fears are still with us, however, as we re-claim our power, we also resolve to never do this to ourselves again. We promise ourselves that we will Transform these old patterns and rules of how life 'should' be, no matter what comes up.
Now, this is where it gets interesting. As soon as we commit ourselves to a new standard (never giving our power away again, etc), our "opponent" becomes very active and very loud. What does our "opponent" look like? Traffic jams, inconsiderate people, angry people, 'jerks,' difficult situations at work/home, financial stressors, physical injuries, etc. However, if we can just stay present with our own process, we begin to realize that all of these 'opponents' are simply a reflection of ourselves and that we must grow beyond our old minds/habits in order to create something new; "...sometimes you have to break a few eggs in order to make an omelette."
What if the chaos or challenge held the answer to creating something new? Would you go deeper into it? Would you try to avoid it? I suppose it depends on how present, and honest, we are able to be with ourselves. In my own life, even with all of the powerful tools I am trained in, I still have these moments. Sometimes I am able to remain present and learn and grow, other times, I have to go back through it again with more awareness.
To me, it goes back to the opening title of this article; fearless or fear less? Fearless, by definition, is the absence of fear. In my experience, this is not necessarily a good thing. Fear can keep us alive in dangerous situations (a great short-term survival strategy, but a lousy long-term, thriving strategy). However, the more often that we show courage, acting in the face of that which we fear, the more that we will fear less.
What are you fearful of? Telling someone you care about them? Making a decision? Making a wrong decision? Public speaking? Death? Losing your job?
What if you were able to fear these things less? How would your life be different? Who would you be?
Do you have a plan of action (and do you actually act on it) to grow beyond the fears?
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