Friday, September 20, 2013

Write down your fears to make them separate from you.

Everyone gets scared from time to time. Fear is actually an important feeling.  We need to feel fear to keep us safe from harm.  Feeling afraid is our early warning sign that we might be headed for danger.  But what if we don't really know the outcome of a situation? 

The down side of fear is that it can become overwhelming and keep us from doing things that we want to do.  Fear can keep us from taking any risk at all. If we never take a risk then we can always be reasonably sure of the outcome even if it is not what we really want.  Fear can keep us stuck.

Sometimes it's better to feel our fear and move forward anyway. For example, let's say you have a job interview coming up for a new and exciting position but you feel fear that you might not get hired, you don't have the right clothes, they might not like you, you might be late, etc...

Here is the good news.  You are not your fear.  In fact, if you want to try to something new but feel held back by fear, try writing it down.  Try writing down as many fears as you have.  Look at your list. Which ones make sense?  Which ones seem a little over the top?  Which ones are worth the risk anyway? Once you have written your fears down, you have just made them s-e-p-a-r-a-t-e from you.  You have choice now.  It's important to be able to take a more objective look at what's going on inside of us some times.  Talking with a trusted friend or a therapist can help you manage your fear and move through it to a more successful life.