“Fear does not stop death. It stops life”
A common quote you may have seen floating around the internet at some point or another. It rings true though, does it not?
Ask yourself, has fear ever stopped you from doing something? For me personally, yes of course it has, it’s stopped me from asking person out. It prevented me from learning a round off backhand spring for about a year. Fear has stopped me, but no more, at least I will try not to let it stop me; which really is all we can do. We are only human after all.
There are countless books and articles written on the subject of fear, and there are many ways to overcome your fears the method that you pick will work best for you. To conquer fear we must first better understand it.
Fear is the block that exists between us and the reality that we desire to live in. The good news is we can choose to overcome our fears. The bad news is we must confront these realities about ourselves and the physical world. We are of course limited in our options to resolve, but we are not limited in our potential abilities. Meaning fish can fly, but they probably have never tried.
Humans have tried and achieved by confronting the unknown and overcoming the fear that is associated with it. Taking a brief look at our modern world we are capable of carving out swaths of earth building roads to connect all of humanity. We have soared through the skies on metal tubes powered by liquid explosives. We have touched the surface of our planet’s only moon. We have feared the abyss, but as a species we have also stared back unblinkingly. We are a proud and capable of achieving the wildest of our dreams, by perseverance and persistence.
We may be fated to die, but our living destiny is left to us and the choices we make daily.
So go forth and empower yourself to overcome your fears, you know you can, you know you can tell yourself you can. The only difference is if you believe yourself or not. I believe in you and I never even meet you!
If you need help in conquering your fears then keep reading, because here is a quick practice you can try to overcome your fears.
I want you to take a moment and think about your fears. Are they existential in nature, are they animalistic fears (spiders, survival), or are they abstract concepts (nothingness)? Whatever your fears may be sit and think on them for a moment. Let your fear become clear in your mind. They cannot hurt you because here you are in control. Your mind is a powerful tool. It can be your greatest ally or your most daunting enemy. Your fear is living in your mind and is poisoning your body. We must deal with the cause of fear by meditating on our self and our own abilities.
Perhaps you have a fear of falling? Imagine the weightlessness you feel as you descend through the air powered by gravity, plummeting to the earth. Worry not! You are not falling and even if you were you are still in control of your fall and you can land safely, and if you feel it is lost. We can regain control through our breath.
As you imagine your fears; notice how your chest tightens up? We aren’t even in danger and our fears have a physical effect on our bodies. We must let this go in order for our bodies to return to a relaxed state. Focus on your breath: slowly inhale and exhale. With each exhale try and let your fears flow away from your body matched in tempo to your breath. Can you let go of the tension that your body is experiencing while thinking of your fears?
If no, then keep breathing slowly, close your eyes while imagining a small flame. This is your inner fire. It is being smothered by the fear you have within yourself. Breathe deeply and with each breath try and grow this flame. Feel the warmth from your toes to your head. Keep breathing; slowly breathe in and out keeping an even count on the inhale and exhale. Feed your fear to the flame. A hot enough flame can vanquish your fears.
Slowly open your eyes, at this point, congratulations! You are well on your way to conquering your fears. Eventually you will have to confront the fear yourself in the physical world, but in the mind’s eye you can conquer your fear any time you choose.
Please let me know if this helps you conquer any type of fear you may have. I know for myself I used this to eventually learn a round off back handspring. Who knows what it will do for you?
With Patience,
Kyle Castor