Thursday, April 23, 2015

Befriend your fear

I've talked before about saying hello to our fears. They truly do shrink in size when we bring our awareness to them and explore what they're really about.

I like what Dawna Markova says in her book I Will Not Die An Unlived Life: Reclaiming Purpose and Passion: "What would it be like to open our hearts to our fear, to befriend it with wonder, as one would a deer in the forest? What if you could bring it right into the hearth of your awareness instead of ignoring it and thus allowing it to become an undifferentiated mass of demons that gang up on you in the murk? Stuffed behind walls, fear becomes a horde—the Demons of Doubt who will trample you under stories of what others think, of your endless failures, impending humiliation, and lost control."

She goes on to say how she opens up to her fear: "Breathing in and out, I slowly become present to myself and my body, coming to my senses as I would with a terrified baby, noticing my breath, noticing sensations, refusing any interpretations. I imagine the warmth of compassion sinking deep into the cold place where all of that fear and confusion lives...."

I can't really add much more to her words. If we do not want fear to run our lives and, yes, ruin our lives, we can pay attention to what she says about befriending it. Why not try her suggestion today? If you'd like a conversation about this, I invite you to contact me.


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