face fear.png — Face Fear, Embrace Freedom

**By definition:**
Fear and pain will always be with us. It’s not a matter of conquering fear, it’s a matter of learning how to manage it. The issue with fear is that it overwhelms everything else.
If we understand that fear is just another feeling like joy, happiness, excitement and nothing more, then we are able to take away some of its debilitating power. When we are able to face our fears, we pull it from the driver seat. We can allow it to keep us awake and aware and use it’s momentum to push us forward through the uncomfortableness rather than something that creates a detour in our lives.

Does this sound familiar?

Most of us have lost a job or have been on a hunt for a new one. That feeling of the “in-between” is quite nauseating.

We often find ourselves in competition with family, friends, co-workers, and the vastness of social media. It’s draining to constantly try to prove that we are the best or even adequate.

We have all felt, in some capacity, that life is working against us and we can’t catch a break. The build of anxiety is enough to send our brains into a downward spiral.

Life is a series of experiences that bring constant change. Change, even beneficial change, like a new career, a move, a new baby, a long planned trip, can fire up fear. Fear of the unknown, loss of control, feeling fear itself, can trap us. Trapped by fear, we are unable to move forward or change what might be best for us. Fear encourages us to take the path of least resistance to avoid understanding what actually closed the road forward in the first place.

Why “Face Your Fear?”

Fear, at its roots, was a way to ensure human survival. In the course of human evolution, the people who feared the right things survived to pass on their genes. It was a response that arises from the perception of “danger.” The natural course to drive away from danger was to run away, escape, and avoid.

It’s no wonder we run when we faced with mental, spiritual, and emotional “dangers” like thoughts of “I’m not good enough, I can’t, I am not capable, s/he is more qualified.” Historically it is primal instinct to turn and run the opposite direction to “survive”.

In reality, fear invites us to ask, “What is actually happening when we feel anxious or suddenly frozen, nervous, exhausted, flighty, or wanting to run away or towards with so much mindless anxiety?” According to Psychology Today, we can become a much less anxious person when tackling fear head on. It’s key to understand how our brain reacts to the things that frighten us, and how to change our habitual behaviors to help our brain be less anxious.

The Benefits of “Facing Fear”

how to live with things we can cannot control. When we learn to “embrace fear” as an essential feeling of being human, we begin to understand where fear can assist us in the process of true freedom. We get a better grasp and understanding that every experience is an opportunity. No matter what happens, we want to be able to have resources in our toolbox to face our fears and to open the closet and let the skeletons out. Facing our fears helps us develop courage, wisdom, resilience, and compassion.

Verywell Mind says, when you completely avoid your fears, you teach your amygdala, the fear center in your brain, that you can't handle them. On the contrary, gradually facing your fears, in small doses that don't overwhelm you, may help decrease anxiety "habituating" your amygdala, or letting your brain become accustomed to the fear. If you accept the invitation to BREATHE deeply and calmly and look at our fear, you create OPPORTUNITY to come to grips with the truth of our entire existence and we learn

How Can We Practice “Facing Fear”

Below are some exercises that give you an opportunity to practice the art of “facing fear and embracing change.”