Monday, August 9, 2010

The Fear Factor

Unlike the TV program, The Fear Factor, facing our fears usually doesn't involve eating strange exotic bugs or surviving potential suffocation underwater while millions of people watch. Rather, our fears come to us in little annoying thoughts and messages... but sometimes we'd rather eat fat juicy spiders than face our fears. Why? Because we "fear" our fears.

Fear is nothing to be afraid of. In fact, our fears are merely information - signals to pay attention. It's how we respond to that information which makes the biggest difference and the largest impact on our well-being.

So let's apply the topic of fear to the Balance Factor awareness of mind, body and spirit. When we stay only in our minds, we have the potential to take our fears and create all sorts of “thoughts” about them. When we try and think ourselves through our fears we often create more fears in the process. What happens when you are afraid of talking to someone about a sensitive matter? You may create all sorts of their responses based on what you "think" they might say (which may help you prepare to speak to them), but after some good brainstorming we may be more nervous than before. Our minds start going in a hundred different directions based on the "what if..." question. Suddenly our concerns have turned to panic.

What about taking our fear a step deeper? Whereas our minds bring us thoughts, our hearts bring us the feelings surrounding our fears. When we bring our fears into our hearts and examine our feelings, we have the opportunity to see how many of our fears are, in fact, unfounded or silly. Perhaps just paranoia or misunderstanding. Many of our fears are based in the future or the past (I can’t believe I did that… what was I thinking? Or the "woulda should coulda" path). Sometimes we can use our feelings to help direct our responses to fear, but many times our emotions get the best of us and suddenly we're not able to think reasonably. And, once again, our fears take control.

There is an additional level of awareness that brings the most, and deepest, meaning to our fears and that is our spirit - our intuition. Spirit can bring our fears out of the darkness of doubt and into the light of truth. What do you really "know" about the fear are you feeling? How do your thoughts and feelings line-up with your intuition? What really feels true about the situation? Bringing our fears down into our center - becoming aware of our inner knowingness and trusting that gut feeling in our intuition, we now have the ability to tap a deeper level of understanding - our core beliefs - our inner truth.

When we are aware of our thoughts, feelings, and intuition, we have access to the most information from which to create our responses, which in turn create our reality. When we are in alignment with our body, mind, and spirit we can take each into consideration and activate our response based on a new pool of information. That, indeed, will help us to take our fears and deal with them logically, emotionally, and intuitively.

And all without having to eat bugs. Well, not unless you're into that :o)

Namaste,

The Ambassador

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