Question Your Fears

[Karen Walker]

Do you realise that suffering is optional?

Several years ago I was going through a major upheaval in my life
and most of the stress I was under was caused by my own fearful
thoughts and self doubt.

One thing I learned (the hard way!) is that if you have a wish or
a desire for something new and you start experiencing self-doubt
about your abilities, or fearful thoughts about the unknown, then
that is a sure sign that you are ready to move forward and take
your life to the next level.

Self-doubt is nothing more than a battle that goes on in your mind
when half of you is ready to grow and move forward and half of you
wants to desperately hold on to the status quo.

This inner battle is a result of our limiting beliefs - we may not think
we are good enough, smart enough, or brave enough - and these
beliefs surface through our ego mind to protect us.

Unfortunately, even though our mind is trying to protect us it is
also stopping us from creating the life we want. The ego side of
our mind tries to keep everything the same because we are within
our comfort level.

Where we are now is the end result of our previous growth and
knowledge, but in order to move forward we must move through
the fear and the self-doubt.

As Einstein once said, "We can't solve problems by using the same
kind of thinking we used when we created them."

So how can we move through the fear and self-doubt?

I discovered that when I believed what my mind tried to tell me, I
suffered, I was fearful, I was concerned. But that when I didn't
believe them, I didn't suffer, and this is true for every human being.

I simply started questioning the fear and the self-doubt until I
had exhausted every argument. Our fears and worries are not real
in the world around us - they only live in our minds. And we have
the ability to change our minds whenever we want.

Instead of desperately trying to change the world to match our
thoughts about how things should be, by questioning these thoughts
we can release the fear and self-doubt.

Freedom is as simple as that.

[Fiona]

Thanks for this. You are right, fear is there to protect you. But in order to release it, it is provided that we say to fear "I know you want to protect me. i appreciate that you want to help me, and I thank you." Acknowledge the fearful thought. For doubt, treat doubt as a friend, a reminder to strengthen your beliefs. Doubt is when you adopt a new way of thinking or idea, ur mind tells you that this NEW way of thinking is not like the rest of the folders of your thoughts. So tell doubt that you are starting a NEW and improved folder now, and there is going to be more files of like thoughts pouring in. :)
These I learnt from Louise L.Hay.