Oh, That Four Letter Word…
Fear. The gripping four letter word that holds the most suffocating power over human beings at this time. From fear stems doubt, anixiety, depression, loneliness, angst, longing, want, and self-defeat. With this comes a need, an almost primitive survival instinct to relieve oneself of this feeling. What we do is numb out, distract, or harm others. Which then, in turn, harms ourselves.
I lived in fear for a long time. Fear is what held me to my addiction. Fear is what kept me in that place of need. Fear created the obsession of the mind. Fear had power over me. From time to time, fear creeps back in and I become worried over what the future will bring. Have I prepared enough? Am I ready? What if I fail? What if?…
Fear keeps most of us in a state of complacency. It keeps us from living our truths and following our dreams. “So many others have tried,” we tell ourselves, “and they have failed.” What makes me any more likely to succed than them? There are millions of people on the planet, all with similar hopes and dreams just like my own. Why would my aspirations be fulfilled and theirs not? What makes me anymore special than those who have gone before me?
I will tell you what many of us in recovery know: we have all tapped into a power much greater than ourselves. A miracle has occurred in our lives, and when all seemed like a hopeless chasm of despair, we were unequivocally pulled out. What was this secret power we tapped into? Was it God? Was it the Universe? Could it be that, initially, you tapped into the power of intention?
We struggled numerous hours, days, weeks, months, even years battling our disease. Yet, it was as if in a moment’s notice, our lives had changed. Many of us remember that moment—that pinnacle moment in our desperation when we knew we could take no more, that this couldn’t be all there was to this life. We cried out to God, Allah, Buddah, our Higher Powers and we yelled, “Save ME, I don’t know what to do anymore!” And as if by magic, we were shown a way out. It took us hitting this point of desperation in order to fully grasp the power of our cry. Unlocking the power of our intention, we were finally through.
The same could apply to many of the worries and fears we have now in just living out every day to the fullest. We have rid ourselves of this terrifying obsession of the mind and now we have the realities of the day looming in front of us. How do we face these obstacles? The very same way we tackled our addiction, alcoholism or mental illness. The intention behind the thought will carry us through. Without the desire to have this fear removed, it will continue to perpetuate itself and we will live it out until we are through.
Now, I am not advocating nor denying the help or hand of a Divine Power. What I am doing is asking you to dig a little bit deeper for the truth about yourselves, to gain just a little more understanding about what it is you are suffering from, really, and find a way out. I challange you, hero reader, to pick a fear, just one, and decide that you are through with this fear. Think it, believe it, and then live it. Whether it’s the credit card bill from Home Depot or the dog barking at you across the street on your morning commute. Decide with all of your heart that you are done being tormented by this fear. Pray about it. Speak about it to others. And then move with how you feel. Once you have given the fear its attention, I believe it will no longer hold power over you. Then “miracles” will begin to happen. The power behind the fear will lose its strength as, over time, you will begin to implement choices and decisions in your life to tackle this singular obstacle. Removing yourself from fear is the greatest gift you could give yourself, because the only thing larger than fear, big enough to fill the hole in your soul, is love. The wonderful thing about having love for oneself is that once it is there, it is all but impossible to remove. Sort of like a cement patch for the soul.
I would be interested to see what occurs with you, reader, once you have made this intention and stuck to it. Please feel free to contact the Heroes In Recovery Movement with your insights to this topic and the experiences you have surrounding your evolution.
As always, with love and light, go forth and prosper!
Adventure Vanessa