Feed Faith. Starve the Fear!

Feed Faith. Starve the Fear!

It is a powerful thing, and life-changing too when one finally decides that they will not settle for less than they deserve. To realize that you get to choose what you want and can move in a direction that is right for you. So then, what causes a person to get to this point? Acknowledging that the only thing that has held them hostage is a very real and dangerous emotion; fear.

I get it. It is not sexy to admit when you are afraid. Imagine being scared of what might go wrong, or worrying about who would not support you, or not even trusting yourself enough to believe you are capable. I was stuck for years before realizing it was my responsibility to have the life I wanted. And sure, making change is scary, trust can be a fragile thing that takes time to build, and standing in your power not fully seeing where you are headed can be downright frightening.

Fear of failure, of success, of disappointments, and just being afraid to change will keep you from being, having, and doing all your heart desires. I’ll admit, fear had me second-guessing every decision I made so where was my faith in myself, and most importantly, where was the faith in the God I claimed to trust? Having to sit with those thoughts about “faith” or lack thereof, brought a realization that I was the one holding me back, and using fear as a crutch to do it. And just like that, I slapped myself with the truth and “owned up” to the part I played in being stagnant. How can I settle and at the same time repeat the words, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me”, Philippians 4:13? It made me think about why we often sacrifice what we want instead of exercising the faith we confess (a different topic for a different day).

So realizing that “I” was the only thing standing in my way, I put on my big girl pants, grabbed the little bit of courage I could muster, and stepped out shaking in my boots! And you know what I realized? It was less about the fear and more about how much energy I gave to fear. Now, do not get me wrong, things did not change overnight and it took time and committed effort to build an element of faith for me to rely on. Let me share what I mean with these few tips that helped me move past fear:

• Fear is an emotion, just like happiness, sadness, and joy. You can choose to be fearful but first, know what it is you are afraid of. Explore the moments and thoughts you have when you feel afraid and ask yourself how is being afraid is serving you.
• It is an act of courage to do something while afraid at the same time. But that is exactly how you build faith – you create a pattern of successes to draw upon when you feel incapable. Show yourself the success you are gaining as you walk in faith. Meaning, tell yourself, “I did that thing while afraid and I got through it, so I can do this thing and it will work out. I will be okay.” The more oxygen you take away from fear, the more you feed the belief in yourself and the assuredness you need to follow your dream.
• Be mindful of what you say to yourself and the thoughts you hold about yourself. Instead of saying you can’t, say you will. Entertain only positive thoughts and words no matter how you feel. It takes practice to do this even when you do not feel it.
• Have a bit of grace with yourself as you build faith. Grace yes, without excuses. What I mean by this is when you feel afraid, acknowledge and explore the fear without giving in to it. Again, ask yourself how is fear serving you, then choose faith and pour your energy into it. Counter fear by taking action in spite of fear will diminish its power over you.
• Use the energy you’ve given to fear as a motivator to pursue what you want. Be afraid in a good way…as if to tell yourself, “I am afraid of becoming stagnant and complacent, so instead I will create a plan and push towards my goal.”

In spite of the fear, move in the direction you want to go. Take all the energy you have given to fear and put it into strengthening your faith. You give power to whatever you put your energy and action towards. Now is the time to exercise your faith muscles and bulk up. You will grow in strength, confidence, and stamina to weather any storm. As you grow, new experiences and exciting opportunities will reveal themselves, as if they have been waiting for you the entire time. Stay focused, have grace, keep the momentum and keep moving forward. Get started – you have a whole new life waiting for you. ♥