Fear

What is your worst fear?

So many of us lead lives lived in fear. Some of us are so used to the fear, we do not even recognize it anymore. It has become one with us, bound to us, the quiet whisper in the deepest parts of the night we forget upon waking. We move throughout the day, head down, tail between our legs, subconsciously hoping no one will spot us for what we are: afraid.

The truth is, we all reek of it. While we attempt to drown our fears with distractions, relationships, drama, personalities, noise, alcohol, drugs – it always comes back, affecting our every decision, our every choice.

It is fear of failure, yes. But more than that, it is fear of reaching for more. It’s fear telling us that what we want, what we truly, intrinsically want, doesn’t exist. It’s the fear whispering to us that our dreams are figments of our imagination; that the person we want, the goal we want to accomplish, is unattainable because it does not exist.

Fear lies and warps our reality. It tells us we are safer here, in this safe space, this known “comfort” zone, no matter how painful it is. The truth is, we are not really afraid of failing. We are afraid of reaching for more and finding out that everything our souls ever needed is real.

We are afraid because the crushing realization that we have not been fulfilling our potential will render months, or more accurately, years, wasted: on the wrong relationship, on the wrong career, on the wrong life.

We tell ourselves these lies, we convince ourselves that our deepest yearnings will never be fulfilled and will never be answered, and so we settle into a life that we surmise is good enough, while we avoid striving for better. We are afraid of our weaknesses, yes, but beyond that lies a deeper fear. A fear of our own strength. A fear of our own power.

We are all immeasurably more powerful than we give ourselves credit for. The fear to pull back the rock, expose that powerful essence, the one which can wreak destruction or engender a complete and total change of reality, is a lie designed to keep you in your comfort zone, coasting on the coattails of life, as you stubbornly deny God entrance. We are all afraid to pull back the curtain and see that we are ultimately – each one of us – capable of incredible feats. We were each created with specific purpose, lovingly formed by God Himself. God makes no mistakes. You are here for a reason. You are here to uncover that reason, and wrench back the curtains, peel the outer shell, and keep peeling until you find your soul, which is vulnerable, and delicate, and more powerful than you could ever imagine.

Because your soul is a piece of God Himself. He breathed life into You. While He spoke other things into existence, He breathed us into existence, His very breath, coming from His inmost essence, becoming our own inmost essence. And while we dance around the questions, while we hide our faces, and turn away from truth, and shun risk and faith and the very real purpose for which we were formed, God gives us experiences, tribulations, and communications – over and over again – to attempt to bring us back to our truest selves. To reconnect. To understand.

The fear has been designed to make us shy away from the light. The fear was made to make us run, shielding ourselves in darkness, convincing ourselves that it is safer, more comfortable in here. And the truth is, it never actually will be.

We do not fear our own darkness. We fear our own light.

And when we finally stop fearing, and start trusting; when we at long last break through the self-made barriers, the limitations we created for ourselves, we will live each moment with purpose and meaning, and elevate even the seemingly most minute, expendable details to the level of our greatest achievements.

When we stop being afraid, and embrace life fully, then, only then, will we know what it is to live.

And now, so said the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and the One Who formed you, O Israel, ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you, and I called you by your name, you are Mine.’

Isaiah 43:1

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness

That most frightens us.

We ask ourselves

Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small

Does not serve the world.

There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking

So that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine,

As children do.

We were born to make manifest

The glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us;

It’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,

We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we’re liberated from our own fear,

Our presence automatically liberates others.

-Marianne Williamson