Faith vs. Fear: Which glass are you drinking from?
Yesterday, I was reading “You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life” by Jen Sincero and got to the chapter on fear, and this particular section spoke to me:
“When we watch someone take a leap of faith, our first reaction is to scream, ‘Look out!’... We’ve not only made a habit out of smearing our fear and worry and doubt all over each other, but we pat ourselves on the backs for it because we believe that it shows how much we care.”
It goes on to say that we give a lot of lip service to the idea that anything is possible, but should we actually do anything radical (quit our secure job to follow a dream, take out a loan to build our dream business or fall in love and decide we want to marry that person, even though we just met him/her last week...), sirens go off.
I can certainly relate. I consider myself “mostly” fearless: I’ve moved across country twice; I challenge myself when it comes to my fear of heights; and I am constantly swatting away irrational fears, but I must admit, fear sometimes gets the best of me.
Then, there’s my most annoying fear --a fear of events that haven’t even happened and may never happen. (A wild imagination is not always a good thing.)
Lately, I’ve been overwhelmed with fear when it comes to writing my book. It’s something I think about every day. I tell myself, “Just do it. Sit down and write at least one paragraph.” Instead, I’ve been reading a lot --which is great and all, because if you want to be a great writer, rule #1 is to read as much as possible-- and discussing book ideas with friends (Thank you, Marisa for believing in me!) But starting again (I’ve started several books in the past) has been so scary.
It is terrifying to put your all into something and consider that it might not work out.
That’s where FAITH comes in.
I’ve taken some great leaps of faith --but some are just harder than others. Look! I am gambling on a relationship where the odds are sorta against us (long-distance), but for some reason, I have faith in him and us.
The book goes on to remind us that fear lives in the future, and that being afraid is real, but the fear is made up because it hasn’t even happened yet.
How and why am I afraid of something that isn’t "real" RIGHT NOW!?
How many times did you think a situation would pan out one way and it went a whole other direction? Why can’t we believe that things will work out in our favor? That does happen.
This is something I’m working on: having my faith in the unknown be greater than my fear. It’s a process and it takes lots of brainwashing (positive podcasts, books, saving/posting motivational quotes…) for me to believe it. But I’m really trying to drown out my fears with faith.
How do you overcome/deal with fear?
PS. After I wrote this post, I wrote two pages of what could possibly be "my book."
