People experience different kinds of fears, the most common ones are: the fear of rejection, the fear of judgment, the fear of not being good enough, the fear of making a fool of yourself and the fear of failure.
Whatever fear you may have, you’d better become aware that it is stopping you from living life on your own terms.
It’s preventing you from living a meaningful life.
Did you know that we are born with only two fears? The fear of falling and the fear of loud sounds.
All human beings have those two fears, regardless of the culture into which they are born and raised.
What does this tell us? It tells us that all other fears are learned.
We learn to become afraid of something through our own personal experience, and through the environment we grow up in.
For centuries fears allowed our ancestors to survive life-threatening events like being attacked by a tiger, running out of provisions, dying of cold weather, etc.
Today, instead, fears just get in the way of our self-discovery and personal development.
What do I mean by that?
When we don’t take action because of fears, we prevent ourselves from exploring other possibilities, embracing new opportunities, and ultimately finding what really makes us feel alive.
What’s more, we are held back from growing and becoming a role model for other people.
It’s way easier to keep playing safe than getting uncomfortable facing the irrational fears we build in our minds.
However, if we want to make a change in our life we must pay the price of getting uncomfortable.
Let me share with you what my biggest fear is.
It is to get to the end of my life with the regret that I didn't dare to dream and I didn’t do what I truly wanted.
It drives me to take massive action every day.
We have just one shot, and I decided to believe in myself and chase my dreams despite fears.
After all, fears are not real; we create them and they make us avoid the unknown, which is the place where change occurs.
This reminds me of what Franklin D. Roosevelt said:
“The only fear we have to fear is fear itself”.
I have made a covenant with myself, that is, I will no longer play safe, I will no longer lock myself up in the prison of the comfortable and predictable.
The only fear I am willing to listen to is the fear of regret, not living my life to the fullest, and not doing what I truly want and deserve.
Having said that, there was a time when fears dominated my life, and when I was just surviving through the days.
I was so afraid of what other people might think of me, of failing and being judged that I was doing what others wanted me to do, instead of what I wanted.
I was living someone else’s life in order to feel accepted, at the expense of my mental health and general well-being.
I felt lost and at the mercy of circumstances and people’s decisions.
Life was happening to me, rather than happening for me.
There are still moments when I feel fearful, but FEARS no longer stop me from growing and becoming better.
On the contrary, they show me the areas in my life I still need to work on.
FEARS show me the path I need to take to achieve my goals.
I’ve learned the lesson first-hand; only when we tackle our fears can we conquer them and get to the next level of our personal development.
“Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it...that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear”. - Dale Carnegie
What scares the hell out of me is the idea of being on my deathbed and realizing that I wasted my life because of what my family, friends, and society thought of my decisions.
Unfortunately, so many people out there are trapped, living a life that doesn’t really belong to them.
In order to fit in, they do something they are not passionate about, they just go through the days without a purpose.
As a result, people run the risk of becoming unmotivated and depressed; as I used to be.
What about YOU? Are you satisfied with the way you are living your life, are you happy and fulfilled with what you do?
If not, what is the FEAR that is stopping you from changing?
Remember: We can either hope and pray that life will change by itself and keep living in fear till the end of our life, or be brave, tackle our irrational fears, and take the first step to live the life we are meant to, i.e. live to our full potential.
“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change”. - Jim Rohn
In order to change, we must be ready to do what scares us, what we have never done before.
We can either choose FREEDOM or SLAVERY.
The first choice implies acting despite fears and living life to the fullest, the second one instead entails being trapped by fears and living an unmeaningful and miserable existence.
I chose to be FREE, to chase my dreams and inspire as many people as possible to break the chains of FEARS.
I do believe that everyone living on earth is here for a reason, and everyone is meant to live, not just survive. Are you living or surviving?
I do believe that God, the Universe, or whoever you believe in, places the best things in life beyond our fears.
It’s our own responsibility to make the life we have been gifted with a masterpiece because we are powerful beyond measure.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others”. - Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles"
What are you going to choose? FREEDOM or SLAVERY?
You can be everything and accomplish anything you want in life the moment you choose to be FREE.
“The major key to your better future is you”. - Jim Rohn
Nothing can stop you from stepping into your true potential, but YOU.
Nothing can save you, but YOU.
So don’t search outside of yourself, you have all the answers within yourself.
Let the little kid inside of you remind yourself that you didn’t know FEARS.
Tap into the child you were, that’s your true self, YOU are FEARLESS!
Fears have been taught to you, to limit your power.
Change your mindset and you’ll change your life.
Change your life, so that you’ll also inspire others to do the same.
For God’s sake, don’t wait to get to the end of your life wishing you had lived a completely different one.
Don’t wait to get to the end of your life wishing you had dared to chase your dreams.
You still have time!
Start tackling your fears today.
Start pursuing your dreams, and get to the end of your life feeling proud of how you have lived.
More resources for YOU:
Knowing where you are coming from, I can feel the importance and sincerity of this message. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!