60-Second Mind Shift: Making peace with and even learning to love and welcome our fear response
Supporting you to free your mind so you can live from your heart!
“Fear is a reaction, courage is a decision.”
-Lucy Maude Montgomery
Making peace with and even learning to love and welcome our fear response
If you take away one thing from this article, I'd love it to be this: fear is a normal reaction and a big part of being human. Transformation, or the alchemy of fear, happens when we shift the way we relate to this primal mechanism in our brain.
Many quotes about fear focus on conquering or overcoming it, but I want to suggest another approach: acknowledging and being with fear. When we suppress, numb or judge it, that's when fear can paralyze us.
Our brains are wired for fear, this is what kept our ancestors alive. Even though we no longer face immediate physical threats, our brains haven’t evolved much in the past 1,000 years. We still instinctively scan for danger, even when none exists.
In modern times, instead of sabertooth tigers, we experience universal limiting beliefs: that show up as fears of not being enough, not belonging, or being unlovable. These beliefs can be operating subconsciously, so you may not be consciously walking around thinking “I am not enough” but your feelings and actions will reflect that belief. Unlike the sabertooth tiger these beliefs may not be life-threatening, but they can feel life threatening. I know this personally, having lived in a state of fight, flight, or freeze for decades.
What hurt me the most was numbing my fear and thinking it shouldn't be there. What helped me the most was changing my relationship with it by normalizing it as a very human response and not making it wrong, and by acknowledging my fear with compassion, I felt its grip loosen.
Instead of seeing fear as an enemy, we can recognize it as a sign we are stepping into something meaningful. The more we consciously walk alongside our fears, the more we can choose courage, even when we feel fear.
I Affirm: Today I look for any signal of fear inside me as a beautiful part of my humanity.
Step By Step,
Jessie
