This is the time of year when we reflect on what we want to achieve for the next year, what we want to do "better" and what we rather don't want. What I realized this year is that I used to feel rather anxious at this time of year because of myself continuously wanting to improve myself and never being happy with the way I was, so the beginning of a new year always was a time I became extra critical with myself and where new years resolutions put lots of pressure on myself. The other day I noticed how relaxed I am this year in comparison to the past and when I reflected on why that could be, I realized that I must have lost my fear of not being good enough! I'm quite amazed at that, as I never "tried" to lose this fear, it just happened and then I remembered an insight I had about "fear in general" earlier this year and that I had written an assignment as part of my training with Jack Pransky. Fear doesn't seem to be such a big issue for me any longer, also in other areas of my life. So I'm sharing what I have written in February here with you, hoping it might be inspiring for you, too.... Wishing you a very happy and peaceful 2014 :-) with all my love!
Fear is NOT a monster
Until recently I used to believe that fear is real. It was the emotion that I could handle the least of all the negative feelings, even after being displayed to the Three Principles for nearly two years now. Any form of fear appeared as a huge threatening monster to me. Subtle underlying fears included. I was even fearful of facing any fears because they were just too threatening. Fear felt like having to go through a haunted house on a fairground which I saw as a given reality, as something I had to get through in order to survive. What I did not realize, was, that that such a monster loses all its threat once we switch on the light.....
Now, how do we switch on the light?? Well, there is a simple mechanism behind how we create any experience... The Three Principles are in action whether we are aware of it or not and fear is not an exception!! It is a feeling which is created by our personal thinking and then brought to life by the power of consciousness!! It is like the special effects set up in a haunted house, they make it look real!! The atmosphere is spooky and the monster makes us jump. But if we can remember that it is only an actor in a fancy dress, we still might get frightened but we won't take it too seriously.
How comes that we are not aware of fear being just the effect of fearful thoughts?? Because nobody has ever explained to us how we really create our reality. And the majority of our thinking we are not aware of!! We only consciously notice a few thoughts that are on our mind, the rest is subconscious or unconscious thinking!!
Now in the past I was used to analyzing myself and my feelings in order to grow and to become a better person. Trying to understand my fears I often found that there is a deeper, hidden fear underlying the fear that I was aware of. The deeper I dug in the sub/unconscious the more frightening it got and finally I must have given up trying to face the fears and just accepted them as enormous "monsters". In my mind they had grown "too big" for me to handle them, so I avoided them. Lucky really, because I could have created more confusion trying to understand my fears when in reality, all I had to know was that it is "just thought". At the core of any fear is always a hidden belief or a hidden habit of thinking. The point is: We can not feel any fear without a thought. People told me that before but I had to really see it for myself (and I encourage you not to take my word, just watch out for yourself!)
Yesterday I finally saw it!! I woke up with a fearful feeling that I used to get quite a lot which always came with the fright of "having to face a truth" and "having to make a decision". As I was feeling that threatening feeling and the churn in my stomach I suddenly was aware of that it did not feel comfortable at all and in that moment I suddenly knew that it was made up!! It instantly eased and the following thoughts revealed my hidden thinking behind it. I suddenly knew that that feeling was what we call "fear" (funny, obviously I was not aware of it to that extent) and that it is nothing else than any other type of feeling: created by my personal thinking. The following thoughts were all neutral now (I was observing them rather than feeling them) and revealed the clarity, that "having to face a truth" and "having to make a decision" were obviously so threatening because of "having to face consequences" and here I touched a hidden core belief that "I find the unknown frightening". When I realized that I would be able to face the unknown while "in clarity" I knew those feelings could never be real and it all eased even more and I ended up with the most peaceful feeling of "knowing".
Of course, we could now go on forever analyzing as there is even a hidden belief behind that core belief because it raises the question why would one find the unknown frightening. The answer to that is an even deeper hidden core belief. But the point is: We can not feel any fear without an underlying thought. Do we need to know what the thought is? Not really. Once we have seen the process of creating our experience insightfully for ourselves, feelings like fear lose their grip naturally, without any effort.
This probably also explains, why I never really enjoyed haunted houses on the fairground, I could never see the fun people had in being frightened. Now I can... Seeing fears for what they are takes the threat away! Understanding the process of creating a haunted house and knowing that it is just a fake monster or taking away the spooky music, the darkness and the spine-chilling decoration, would we even be frightened?! As soon as we switch on the light the haunted house loses its effect. But on a fairground we might as well enjoy ourselves and the monsters in the dark!!
Fear only serves us for a very short moment, should we be faced with a really dangerous situation. It kick starts the initial reaction so that our bodies can prepare the necessary adrenaline for fight or flight. If it persists any longer, it only clouds the mind. But what we rather need, is a clear head and to stay calm for us to be able to listen to wisdom and to react in the best possible way.
Now, all we need to remember is this: If fear is accompanied by uncomfortable feelings, it is an indication for it just being a made-up monster which we don't have to believe in. How freeing is that?
Now, how do we switch on the light?? Well, there is a simple mechanism behind how we create any experience... The Three Principles are in action whether we are aware of it or not and fear is not an exception!! It is a feeling which is created by our personal thinking and then brought to life by the power of consciousness!! It is like the special effects set up in a haunted house, they make it look real!! The atmosphere is spooky and the monster makes us jump. But if we can remember that it is only an actor in a fancy dress, we still might get frightened but we won't take it too seriously.
How comes that we are not aware of fear being just the effect of fearful thoughts?? Because nobody has ever explained to us how we really create our reality. And the majority of our thinking we are not aware of!! We only consciously notice a few thoughts that are on our mind, the rest is subconscious or unconscious thinking!!
Now in the past I was used to analyzing myself and my feelings in order to grow and to become a better person. Trying to understand my fears I often found that there is a deeper, hidden fear underlying the fear that I was aware of. The deeper I dug in the sub/unconscious the more frightening it got and finally I must have given up trying to face the fears and just accepted them as enormous "monsters". In my mind they had grown "too big" for me to handle them, so I avoided them. Lucky really, because I could have created more confusion trying to understand my fears when in reality, all I had to know was that it is "just thought". At the core of any fear is always a hidden belief or a hidden habit of thinking. The point is: We can not feel any fear without a thought. People told me that before but I had to really see it for myself (and I encourage you not to take my word, just watch out for yourself!)
Yesterday I finally saw it!! I woke up with a fearful feeling that I used to get quite a lot which always came with the fright of "having to face a truth" and "having to make a decision". As I was feeling that threatening feeling and the churn in my stomach I suddenly was aware of that it did not feel comfortable at all and in that moment I suddenly knew that it was made up!! It instantly eased and the following thoughts revealed my hidden thinking behind it. I suddenly knew that that feeling was what we call "fear" (funny, obviously I was not aware of it to that extent) and that it is nothing else than any other type of feeling: created by my personal thinking. The following thoughts were all neutral now (I was observing them rather than feeling them) and revealed the clarity, that "having to face a truth" and "having to make a decision" were obviously so threatening because of "having to face consequences" and here I touched a hidden core belief that "I find the unknown frightening". When I realized that I would be able to face the unknown while "in clarity" I knew those feelings could never be real and it all eased even more and I ended up with the most peaceful feeling of "knowing".
Of course, we could now go on forever analyzing as there is even a hidden belief behind that core belief because it raises the question why would one find the unknown frightening. The answer to that is an even deeper hidden core belief. But the point is: We can not feel any fear without an underlying thought. Do we need to know what the thought is? Not really. Once we have seen the process of creating our experience insightfully for ourselves, feelings like fear lose their grip naturally, without any effort.
This probably also explains, why I never really enjoyed haunted houses on the fairground, I could never see the fun people had in being frightened. Now I can... Seeing fears for what they are takes the threat away! Understanding the process of creating a haunted house and knowing that it is just a fake monster or taking away the spooky music, the darkness and the spine-chilling decoration, would we even be frightened?! As soon as we switch on the light the haunted house loses its effect. But on a fairground we might as well enjoy ourselves and the monsters in the dark!!
Fear only serves us for a very short moment, should we be faced with a really dangerous situation. It kick starts the initial reaction so that our bodies can prepare the necessary adrenaline for fight or flight. If it persists any longer, it only clouds the mind. But what we rather need, is a clear head and to stay calm for us to be able to listen to wisdom and to react in the best possible way.
Now, all we need to remember is this: If fear is accompanied by uncomfortable feelings, it is an indication for it just being a made-up monster which we don't have to believe in. How freeing is that?
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