I had one of those dreams last night. You know the kind . . . where you are about to be chased and eaten by a wooly mammoth. (OK, so your dream is a bit different, but what our dreams have in common is that sometimes they express our fears).

 

I'm not really afraid of wooly mammoths, but when they symbolically show up in dreams and I have a fear response to them, that response represents unexpressed fear.

 

Fear will express itself at the oddest times, especially if you're in the habit of stuffing it down.

 

Fear needs to acknowledged and felt. That's what I'm calling expressing fear. If you don't express your fear, it will pop up unannounced at the most inopportune times.

 

We have been conditioned to think that fear is a weakness. It isn't. Fear is natural. It was the first emotion we were born with and it visits with us our entire lives. To deny its existence guarantees its presence when you need it least.

 

Fear is treated like the ugly step-sister. Oddly, she isn't so ugly when she fills you with adrenaline to jump out of the way of an oncoming bus.

 

Fear needs your respect and acknowledgement - just like you respect electricity, so that it lights up your life rather than electrocutes you.

 

If you are in the habit of denying your fear, it will rule your life.

 

Recognize that fear is part of life and acknowledge it every time it shows up.

 

Expressing your fear will have you lead a less fearful life. It's the expression of fear that takes the wind out of its sails.

 

It takes some practice to welcome fear when it knocks on the door, but it's this practice that will make you less fearful.

 

I won't tell you that acknowledging and feeling fear is fun; it's just necessary, especially if you are tired of allowing fear to run your life.

 

Even the bravest among us are afraid, but it's their ability to embrace fear that allows them to act in the most fearful of circumstances.

 

The bravest thing we can do is to express our fear. Once acknowledged and felt, it can step off to the side and allow us to act fearlessly.

 

All the best,

John