5 Truths About Fear & How to Deal With It
I am meeting a lot of people who feel afraid these days. No wonder, we live in unstable times. The economic crisis has rocked our boat and taken away some of the reliable anchors we used to trust.
In her book “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway” Susan Jeffers reveals some excellent truths about fear which I must share with you. The core message is to understand that fear will always be there as long as you continue to develop and grow. But you can deal with fear just fine if you develop the TRUST that whatever happens to you, whatever life throws at you, YOU CAN HANDLE IT.
3 Levels of Fear
There are 3 levels of fear. Level 1 fears are the surface story and they are situation-oriented (such as Aging, Dying, Illness or Changing a Career, Making a Mistake, Ending a relationship). Level 2 fears are not situation-oriented, they involve the ego and reflect your sense of self (such as Rejection, Failure, Disapproval, Loss of image). There is only one fear on Level 3. It is the bottom of all fears: the fear that you “can’t handle it !”.
If you knew you could handle anything that came your way, what would you possibly have to fear ? The answer is: NOTHING.
This is tremendous news. It means that you can handle ALL your fears WITHOUT having to control anything in the outside world ! Isn’t that a relief !?
How ? All you have to do to diminish your fear is to develop MORE TRUST in your ability to handle whatever comes your way !
Just keep telling yourself again and again:
Whatever happens to me, given any situation, I can handle it !
5 Truths About Fear
TRUTH 1 : The fear will never go away as long as I continue to grow.
So unless you decide that you are satisfied to stay exactly where you are today in all areas of your life, you will not be able to live without fear. Fear is an inevitable part of growth. The two go together. So don’t wait for it to go away for it won’t ! Take it as a relief that you won’t have to work so hard anymore to get rid of your fears and get ready for a new productive relationship with your fears.
TRUTH 2: The only way to get rid of the fear of doing something is to go out and do it.
This is not contradictory to truth 1 at all. Fear of particular situations dissolve when you finally confront them. The “doing it” comes before the fear goes away.
TRUTH 3: The only way to feel better about myself is to go out … and do it.
The “doing it” comes before the feeling better about yourself. So when you do something that’s scary you will not only get rid of the fear, you will also build your self-confidence.
TRUTH 4: Not only am I going to experience fear whenever I’m on unfamiliar territory, but so is everyone else.
Isn’t it a relief that you are not alone ? All those successful people out there have been afraid, too. They had to push through a tremendous amount of fear and they are probably still pushing. Change your habit of retreating when you feel fear to seeing it as a green light for moving ahead. Keep reading the fear truths until you they become part of your being.
TRUTH 5: Pushing through fear is less frightening than living with the underlying fear that comes from a feeling of helplessness.
There is no security in the “cocoon” we build for ourselves. The more helpless we feel, the more severs is the undercurrent of dread that comes with knowing there are situations in life over which we have no control – such as the death of a partner or the loss of a job. This is the irony of truth 5: People who refuse to take risks have to live with a dread that is far more severe than what they would feel if they took the risks necessary to make them less helpless – only they don’t know it!
Summary:
We can’t escape fear. We can only transform it into a companion that accompanies us in all our exciting adventures.
So let’s do it ! Alone or together 
Your Perfect Summer Holiday in the Bavarian Alps
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