“May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism.”

– Unknown

I had a great lesson about fear today. This morning, after waking up early and feeling proud of myself for meditating AND doing yoga, I was faced with a high (family) drama situation, and it ALL happened before 7:30 am! My 5 year old daughter who is in the phase of life where she is losing her front teeth, unexpectedly had one of her front teeth almost knocked out by her brother last night while rough-housing before bed. She awoke this morning in a haze of fear. I failed to figure out exactly what was causing the fear; fear of pain, blood, looking funny, loss of control, being teased by kids at school… it could have been any number of things. In her young mind, she assumed that if she stayed tucked in that state of fear induced paralysis for long enough, the tooth drama would just magically go away. Her Mommy and Daddy had the lucky job of bringing down the hammer of reality.

“We must move past the fear, my sweet girl”. As parents, finding the least harmful option out of an out-right lame list of choices is tricky terrain. The goal – DO NO HARM. And when that is not possible, option B becomes – Do the Least Amount of Harm possible.

In the final analysis, fear is an important tool for human beings. It works great when running from a runaway train. In my opinion, we humans have become quite fond of the benefits of FEAR. Wait did she say benefits? Yes, I did! Fear enables us to live a life outside of the NOW moment. It’s great for that. If we are always thinking about how to be prepared for the unknown, we miss where we actually are. Our bodies may be in the now, but we are not in our bodies when we are in fear, we are actually visiting the place or thing we are afraid of. Meaning, we are unplugged from our selves, and ungrounded and totally separate from the NOW moment. This also wreaks havoc on all aspects of our beings: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. The benefit? Avoiding the discomfort of the unknown.

Fear in the physical body causing the release of harmful stress hormones that increase likelihood of dis-ease.

Fear in the emotional body show up as emotional blocks, which are the locations of “issues” in your energetic body. Over time, these emotional blocks can make it more and more difficult to cope and interfere with the healthy flow of energy in the emotional body, which can lead to the development of physical symptoms (i.e. pushing down fear through over eating).

Allowing fear into the mental body by watching fear saturated images on television and the media, or living lives that embrace “preemptive” approaches to problems can distract us from the ever present magic and serendipity that is constantly nudging and validating us along our path. A thought pattern based in fear sounds like “I really want to go to the beach today, but I am afraid it might rain”. The fear is the of the unknown. The rain is the excuse not to be in the moment. Closing the door on an activity that would otherwise create unlimited possibilities.

Fear in the spirit body makes it very difficult for us to actualize our “higher” goals, which includes manifesting our dreams and connecting with our inner truth.

Living a life free of fear is a choice. It takes evaluating the kinds of interactions we engage in every day. From the types of television shows we watch (i.e. crime shows, shows where people are treating one another badly, violent shows, natural disaster shows and the like) to the way we relate to the world. Am I perpetuating a life of fear for myself and family? How do I live a life where fear is not over utilized?

By 7:40am, my daughter had survived having her tooth pulled and all calm was restored.

I would love to hear what you think about clearing the fear from your life, and what you do to make life more fear-free.

Until then, have a glorious day!

Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending.

                                                              -Unknown