Living Fearless and Free...

Here are a few truths I have learned about transforming fear:

1. Fear Is a Feeling, Not a Fact

This is great news and comes as a surprise to most clients. We change our feelings all the time, so we can change the fear feeling also! Mortal fear is the only informed fear. If your life is in danger, the fight-or-flight response is adaptive and necessary. However, most of the time when your flight-or-fight response is activated, you are not in mortal danger. You can have an initial fear response, recognize you are not in mortal danger, and calm your mind to create clarity.

2. Your Mafia Mind Is a Bully

Your fear mind, or “Mafia Mind” as I call it, operates just like the real mafia. Instead of extorting money, your Mafia Mind extorts joy and potential happiness from your life by threatening you with what might happen. A lot of things might or might not happen, so harness the power of your intention to create what you want to happen.

3. Be Here Now

Present moment awareness is essential to stop fearful thoughts from becoming reality and dictating decisions. Never mind what was and don’t be a fortuneteller. This present moment is unique—there has never been and will never be another. So let go of the, “well this is what will happen because that’s what always happens.”

4. Meditation

A dedicated daily practice of stillness and silence strengthens your “be here now” muscle. Living more in this present moment will decrease fear-generated “future tripping” into what hasn’t happened and “past tripping” into what no longer exists.

5. Exercise Gratitude in Motion

A Johns Hopkins University study indicated volunteering as little as two hours per week increased feelings of happiness and decreased feelings of depression in volunteers. I made volunteering a mandatory experiment for clients struggling with fear and anxiety and found positive results. Fearful obsessing is very isolating. Sharing your gifts with others is the fastest way to get out of your head and into living.

6. Nourish Your Noggin

Seek help from a licensed professional. Years of my own psychotherapy before and after my year of fear created a safe space for my healing.

You have the power to free yourself from the mental prison that fear creates. Anything worth having is worth working for, and you deserve to live fearless and free.

I am always interested in your thoughts, so please share. I am available to guide you and cheer you on, along with our supportive Positively Positive community.

Here’s to living Fearless and Free!