Learning to Reframe: Fear

The adrenaline gift that keeps on giving.

There are so many types of fear--many from legitimate, high stakes causes, such as disease and loss of life.

Fear can save your life with its impossible-to-ignore alert system in surprising moments of danger.

You can fear an action--such as falling off a cliff, getting in a car accident, eating the wrong helping of blowfish.

You can fear an inaction--your regrets, the chances you didn’t take, the stock you didn’t buy.

There is also fear that comes with the sidekick of “change,” which is not often as terrible as it might seem from the outset.

And there is the fear we will literally pay for in the form of movies, books, and haunted houses around Halloween.

...One of the most interesting things about fear is that we humans have a way to manipulate it to our own empowerment.

What’s that, now?

If you think fear doesn’t haunt the top Olympians, every Astronaut, the winner of the Nobel Prize... you would be mistaken. Part thrill, part determination--they use fear to propel them further. That same energy of adrenaline can be put to your own use. This infusion married with training, discipline, and perseverance, can act as a harness and focus your efforts on tasks that will take you further, faster.

No, not all fear can be trained to your whim, but it's important to remember is that the true life-threatening occasions of fear and terror are much less frequent than the overall total moments of uncertainty, anxiousness, and adrenaline that defines the greater amount of this emotion. And herein lies the challenge. Defining the type of fear you are experiencing is instrumental in the analysis to claim and own your power over its place in your life.

There are and have been a lot of fearful moments this year. We are not beyond the birthing of even more. However, consider the possibility that you can take what you have learned from this year of collected horrors, and put those things into direct action. This can both empower you now and help protect against the future.

Let this fearful energy move you to make a change.

Let it help prepare you for future opportunities.

Let it reveal to you allies and safe spaces.

Let it help you make more enlightened choices,

and teach you how to stand your ground, even in the midst of it.