Don’t Act On Fear!
Acting on our fear. What are the consequences?
“Once there was a young warrior. Her teacher told her that she had to do battle with fear. She didn’t want to do that. It seemed too aggressive; it was scary; it seemed unfriendly. But the teacher said she had to do it and gave her the instructions for the battle. The day arrived. The student warrior stood on one side, and fear stood on the other. The warrior was feeling very small, and fear was looking big and wrathful. They both had their weapons. The young warrior roused herself and went toward fear, prostrated three times, and asked, “May I have permission to go into battle with you?” Fear said, “Thank you for showing me so much respect that you ask permission.” Then the young warrior said, “How can I defeat you?” Fear replied, “My weapons are that I talk fast, and I get very close to your face. Then you get completely unnerved, and you do whatever I say. If you don’t do what I tell you, I have no power. You can listen to me, and you can have respect for me. You can even be convinced by me. But if you don’t do what I say, I have no power.” In that way, the student warrior learned how to defeat fear. ”
― Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
I love this Quote from Pema Chödrön. A client sent it to me because it resonated with her so deeply. Understanding our old beliefs is great, but the most important part of overcoming and shifting our fear is not doing what it says.
The fear shows up when we are operating out of our lower self (limited belief system.) Maybe something happens at work and someone gets the promotion that we thought we deserve. Fear comes up because our belief system might be saying, “We aren’t good enough; we are never going to get a promotion; we are never going to make enough money and we might starve to death and die.” That’s very dramatic! Our little girl’s fears are very dramatic and intense.
The action you might want to take is to storm into your manager’s office and give him a piece of your mind. This is where you get to make a decision for yourself that is either strengthening your old belief and buying into the fear or not taking the action your lower self/little girl is pushing you to take. When we don’t take the action, the old belief causing the fear has no power.
When you get triggered and fear comes up, stop and pause and go inward and look at what the fear is saying and the action it wants you to take, and don’t listen to it no matter what!
