Running away

Many of us developed a habit of running away from our fears, insecurities, hurts, disappointments, unhealed wounds, feelings of guilt and shame. The problem with running is the harder we run, the more situations show up in our lives that mirror what we're running from. As much as we try to avoid looking at our stuff, there is no real place to hide. We only exhaust ourselves running in circles...

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Healing our fears and insecurities

 

There is a huge difference between "owning your power" 

as opposed to "being in control".

When you know how powerful you really are,

you let go of your need to be in control.

Control is purely based on FEAR!

Ultimately, you give your power away when you give into fear,

when you try to micro-manage life...

instead of trusting your needs will be met.

When you're afraid, there's a good chance...

 you'll be trying to micro-manage other people's lives too.

It may give you a false sense of safety.

You may call it love, being helpful, extending kindness to others...

 but I will call it what it is; boundary crushing and disrespectful.

Interfering with someone's right to have their experiences,

trying to cripple them with your fears and insecurities,

 will destroy any chance of having a lasting, healthy relationship with them.

There is nothing powerful about giving into fear.

It is only when we face and heal our fear...
 that we own our true power.

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Breaking the spell

 

Picture yourself as a woman...
 

 who has broken the spell of fear.

She discovered the courage...

she already possessed.

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Transforming fear

 

Until we stop to face our deepest fear,

we waste precious time running from it.

Some of the ways we avoid being alone with fear is...

busyness, overeating, spending, dependency on others,

substances, working too much, isolating....

All of these lead to nowhere, but a dead end.

There's no where to bury the truth,

no matter how hard we try.

The hole inside of us we try to fill with distraction...

 ends up being another source of pain.

It's only in surrendering to being honest about our fear,

that we begin to truly transform...

 

I am certain we all have the same fear...

fear of being alone.

We have been wounded in some way;

abandonment, rejection, dysfunctional family issues growing up... 

It's not a comfortable process to look at a broken heart.

We may lie to ourselves by saying "it was no big deal".

But minimizing it is just another excuse to avoid it.

 

There is nothing outside of yourself that will heal you.

It's like trying to put a band aide on a gaping, infected wound.

It will never work.

Nor will lying to yourself.

 

For today, surrender to become more honest.

Stop looking for quick fixes.

Any discomfort you may feel when you look at fear...

is nowhere near as painful as carrying it with you

for the rest of your life.

We all have the choice to live fully awake and present...

 or numb ourselves out.

 

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Love and fear

One of my new drawings for a children's greeting card

 

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“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love.

When we are afraid, we pull back from life.

When we are in love,
we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance.

We need to learn to love ourselves first,

in all our glory and our imperfections.

If we cannot love ourselves,

we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create.

Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness 
and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”  

― John Lennon

 

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Faith and courage

 

Being brave doesn't mean you'll never be afraid.

 

Fear is a normal response to danger.

But it turns into anxiety if we give it too much power. 

 

Don't let fear grow bigger than your faith.

 

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Fear is a lack of trust in ourselves, and because of this, we don’t trust Life. We don’t trust that we’re being taken care of on a higher level, so we feel we must control everything...

Trust is what we learn when we want to overcome our fears. It’s called “taking a leap of faith”...

The more you love yourself and trust Life, the more that Life will love you, support you, and guide you...

At any moment you have the opportunity of choosing love or fear. In moments of fear, I remember the sun. It’s always shining even though clouds may obscure it for a while... When the fears come, choose to see them as passing clouds in the sky...

written by Louise L. Hay

 

 

"Life is on my side"

Being free of fear

Thinking has been a survival tool...

a way I've coped with fear...

always analyzing, worrying.

I thought that if I knew the answer,

 it would fix the situation.

Today I don't spend a lot of time thinking...

I'm too busy living...

trusting...

enjoying.

 

There's no need to figure life out anymore...

 or fight to make things go my way.

 I took the power away from fear...

by surrendering it...

practicing faith...

and living in the moment.

 

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I have not ceased being fearful,
but I have ceased to let fear control me.
I have accepted fear as a part of life -
specifically the fear of change,

the fear of the unknown;
and I have gone ahead

despite the pounding in my heart that says:
turn back, turn back...

 

Erica Jong

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"I surrender fear so I may live from my heart"

Having faith

 

I had a few dragons to slay (things to overcome) this past year. When I chose "FREEDOM" as my goal back in January 2012, I knew I would be faced with the very things that were blocking my freedom, mostly fear...fear of many things.

I knew the only way I could overcome some of these fears was to lean into it...to face them...to cease struggling, resisting, or denying them. 

 

Though the process of surrendering to fear instead of running from it was difficult at times, it helped strengthen my faith...my faith in life.

 

What I learned this past year was this; I will not run from fear anymore. Facing fear was very freeing. What an interesting journey 2012 took me on....

 

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Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin,

and a single courageous step would carry

us clear through them. 

 

~Brendan Francis

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"There are no obstacles too big to overcome"
 

Shining the light on fear

 

When you were a child, were you afraid of the boogie man...scared he would creep in your
 room at night? Did your parents comfort you by turning on the lights, showing you there
was nothing to be afraid...that there was no boogie man?

 

Fear is like the boogie man. It creeps in our minds like an intruder, causing our thinking

 to become distorted. As a child, I was afraid of my own shadow. Because my fears went
unnoticed, I thought they were real. I believed in the boogie man.

 

I brought my child-like fears into adulthood. Instead of comforting my fears, I acted on

them. Fear infected how I viewed the world...the world felt unsafe, scary, it was difficult
to trust people...

 

Thankfully, I learned the importance of taking time to quiet my fears, but not giving into
 them. Today, if the boogie man creeps in to my thoughts, I can turn on the lights...
 

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...I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

 

Oriah Mountain Dreamer

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 "I will not give into fear"



Conquering fear

What you should know about fear is that it will take your joy, freedom, your dreams…
robbing you of the ability to live fully…making your world small, confined, limited..

Fear lies to you. It tells seemingly convincing stories that aren't true…the voice in your
head that says “you will fail…don’t try...give up”

Fear will tell you that are unworthy…that no one cares, life is too hard, that there is no
way out of pain…

What you need to remember is this: fear is a lie…created from ego…a wounded child’s imagination…a fragmented part of yourself…know that faith is more powerful than fear,
the past can be healed, and your future is as bright as a shining star on a dark night.
 

Take the risk today to face something you've been avoiding because you've been afraid...
expect a good outcome...it's time for change. 

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 "My mission in life is not to merely survive,
but to thrive; and to do so with some passion,
some compassion, some humor, and some style"

Maya Angelou

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"I will not give in to fear"

Reacting from fear

 

 

 

For me, fear is often the inner voice...

 that speaks the loudest.

I have learned that my first thought...

 is not always my best one,

especially if I am feeling afraid at that moment. 

I make healthier decisions...

when I take time to process my feelings...

 before I react.

Just because I think something is true...

doesn't mean it is.

Fear is never a voice of reason.

 

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Sometimes we must do the very thing we don't want to,

to overcome fear.

 

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"I will not let fear stand in my way"

 

Overcoming fear

 Although we're expecting stormy weather (a possible hurricane) in my area,
(I wrote this on Mon.) all I see outside my window is sunshine and little droplets of
warm rain. I feel a small twinge of guilt that I haven't had one moment of distress over
the forecast. Whether it's faith or ignorance, it feels good.

 

 I will never forget the year hurricane Charlie came. My closet was filled with my pets,

 chocolate, other snacks, my favorite pillow and blanket, and of course, me. I was comforting
myself the best I could. I was really scared that year.

 

For some time though, I've been inching my way to peace. Quieting the inner disturbances

 that used to rob me of joy and serenity...disturbances such as worry, fear....

I'm not saying that I wouldn't head for the closet again if I needed to, but fear of life has
 lessened. First, I had to get honest with myself that I was afraid...afraid of many, many things
...and from there, I began to work on my fears instead of denying them.

Today, I am learning to trust life - to let go of fear and worry. There is great comfort in
knowing life is on my side.
 

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Where hope grows, miracles blossom. - Elna Rae

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Faith is a bird that feels dawn breaking and sings
while it's still dark. - Rabindranath Tagore

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"I release my fears"

 

Living bravely

She looked back at how far she had traveled…

the experiences she gathered along the way…

the people she had met…

the lessons she had learned.

So far, it had been quite a journey…

the twists and turns…

the unpredictability…

the unseen blessings that had awaited her.

Learning to step into the fire of her fears...

 transformed her...

set her free...

broke the mold of suffering.

It was a ride worth taking.

She found her strength and courage…

her faith...

her inner power.

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My new, very imperfect, quirky drawings

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“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit

the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” 

Maya Angelou

"Fear no longer has any hold on me"

Being brave

Being brave does not mean that you're never afraid.

Fear is a normal response to danger...
but will turn into anxiety if we give it too much power.
Don't let fear grow bigger than your faith.

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Fear is a lack of trust in ourselves, and because of this, we don’t trust Life. We don’t trust that we’re being taken care of on a higher level, so we feel we must control everything from the physical level.

Obviously, we’re going to feel fear because we can’t control everything in our lives.

Trust is what we learn when we want to overcome our fears. It’s called “taking a leap of faith” and trusting in the Power within... Remember, the Power that supplies our breath is the same Power that created the Universe.

You’re one with all of Life. The more you love yourself and trust Life, the more that Life will love you, support you, and guide you...

At any moment you have the opportunity of choosing love or fear. In moments of fear, I remember the sun. It’s always shining even though clouds may obscure it for a while... When the fears come, choose to see them as passing clouds in the sky, and let them go on their way.

Love is the opposite of fear. The more we’re willing to love and trust who we are, the more we attract those qualities to ourselves. When we’re on a streak of really being frightened or upset or worried or not liking ourselves, isn’t it amazing how everything goes wrong in our lives? It’s the same when we really love ourselves. Everything starts to go on a winning streak, and we get the green lights and the parking spaces. We get up in the morning and the day flows beautifully.

written by Louise L. Hay

Courage doesn't always roar.

Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day

that says I'll try again tomorrow.

~Mary Anne Radmacher

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"I am willing to release my fears"

Looking fear in the face

I'm having fun making new stuff!

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Let this be the year you face your fears!

Running, denying or avoiding fear holds you hostage!

What are you most afraid of?

Make a list of your fears!

Tell yourself that if the worst things on list happened that you would be okay.

Too often we tell ourselves that we won't be able to deal with it.

But you can and you will, if you have to...

This will help you reclaim the power you given away to fear...

It will empower you instead...

Remember to breathe....

Let the fear fear dissolve into faith...

Turn it over...

Let it go...

Feel the peace...

You are free.

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 I confess that I'm a wimp when the weather gets a little cool. I hibernate inside!

But as soon as it warms up a bit, I'm off on a new adventure with my camera. These photos were taken a couple of months ago.

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Love is what we were born with.
Fear is what we learned here.

~ Marianne Williamson ~

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"I ignore the voice of ego for my faith is strong"

Fear makes me feel crazy

Sometimes when I'm creating, I find myself humming a song. "Oh my darling" was a song by grandfather sang to me as a little girl. I can still hear the little song and the sound of his voice.

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I jumped out of bed this morning, excited to start writing my post for the day. However, when I opened to my blog site, it didn't work. I'm not well versed about computers, so fear shot through me like an arrow. No matter what I tried, I couldn't fix it. I felt my adrenaline rising and my head got foggy. It was time to step away. I've learned when I become afraid, my thinking gets cloudy and distorted and I can't make good decisions. It was best I let it go, calming myself first instead of  hitting buttons on the computer like a crazy woman. I've tried that before, ending up in a worse situation. So I did, and here I am writing my post. How did I fix it? Something to do with cookie browser, whatever that is. For the moment, fear did not get the best of me. I won this round.

Have you ever noticed how fear distorts your thinking? Do you work yourself into a frenzy when you're afraid? Practice stepping away, breathe deeply, say a little prayer, and wait for it to pass.

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Making a heart connection with a mushroom.

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 The two hardest things to handle in life are failure and success. Anonymous

"My faith is always more powerful than fear"