Fear is incredibly powerful. It's powerful enough to have you strap yourself into a car, look both ways before crossing the street, lock yourself in your apartment and even alter your route should you find yourself somewhere unknown after dark.
Don't get me wrong, fear serves a purpose in keeping us safe in the face of real dangers; it's when the perceived danger is an illusion that fear shows its shadow side.
It's when fear has you convinced that there's no way that you could survive rejection, that what you have to say is not worthy of being heard or that being seen would open you up to all kinds of judgment, that fear can cause more harm than the imagined outcome.
So what's the cost? The cost is the belief in yourself, in your resilience, in your ability, in your own voice.
Confession: I am a Spiritual Life Coach and Empowerment Expert who has allowed fear to keep me from playing BIG. What good is my gift if I don't let anyone know that I am out there? How can I create what I want if I buy into the illusion that maybe people aren't looking for what I have to offer? How can I live empowered when I clip my wings before I can even take flight?
You notice that I am not blaming anyone here. I am taking full responsibility for not stepping wholeheartedly into my fullest, most expressed life. I have given fear much too dominant a role in my life and it wasn't until recently that I discovered that what I had done was allow fear to replace my reason for being.
I've played it safe my whole life, despite a calling to be, do and want more for myself. I followed a path charted for me and never questioned. I bought into the fear of others and wore it as my own. And even now, having taken the huge step of leaving corporate America and venturing on my own, I have found a new way of convincing myself that I am playing big, when in fact I am playing medium.
My Reason For Being
I had allowed myself to lose sight of why I am here. What was my reason for being? What was my life's purpose? How am I here to serve? To steal one of the most profound lines from the movie, King's Speech , "My job was to give them faith in their own voice." You see, I silenced my voice when I was young and it wasn't until I was 40 that I gave myself permission to not only be heard, but to listen to my own voice. And it was such a profound experience that I vowed that I too would do what I had wished someone would have done for me... to give others faith in their own voice.
The Antidote to Fear
So here is the nugget: The antidote to fear is to get out of your head (the land of illusion) long enough to remember why you're here and how you were meant to serve. Fear wants to keep you small and safe and in order to really show up and be ALIVE in your life, you have to look beyond yourself and your perceived shortcomings and step into a place where you ride the wind of your purpose and allow it to carry you as you dare to spread your wings.
I remembered why I am here... to assist, facilitate and ignite your faith in your own voice and in so doing, step fully into the most fulfilling, enriching and extraordinary life that I could have ever imagined for myself.
You are more important than my fear. My coach once told me that my clients will only go as far as I am willing to go for myself. And so here I am professing to you that TODAY, I will no longer lend fear my voice, but instead will rise up and step fully into my purpose to serve.
It's not about me; it's about you and from that place, PLAYING BIG reveals itself as my true nature, outside of the grasps of fear.
My wish is that your faith in your own voice drowns out the fear in your mind.
When fear comes up, ask "How can I serve"? It is the fastest way to get you out of the illusion and into action! What will you do the next time fear creeps up? How will you step forward in your purpose and serve?
Share it with me on the blog. I'd love to hear from you
Love and light,
Patty