Good morning,
Happy Holidays! Out of the gate, I have to shout it from the rooftops, because I?m so excited about two fanTABulous programs coming up that are designed to help you Create Vibrant Health: BodyMindSpirit?.
First, I?ve got a happy Body Sass? & Food Sass? package all wrapped up and ready for you to open! My January 2016 Body Sass? Cleanse Group Program is open for registration! Program dates are January 12 ? February 5. This game-changing group Program is the perfect choice to serve as a launching pad for YOUR HEALTH in 2016. Let?s do this! Registration will close on Wednesday, Jan 6.?Click HERE for more information and to sign up for a lighter, more focused, more energetic YOU to start the new year.
Now, on to our topic du jour.
I have met with many clients over the last few weeks who are starting to think about ?what do I want different in my life for 2016?? And many of those discussions, interestingly, have led to the topic of what I call ?false fears.? (Real fear is ?wow, that coyote is snarling and advancing quickly.?) So, I?d like dish up a serving of Soul Food to start your day?something to ponder.
Many of our decisions, indecisions, thoughts, choices, actions, and inactions?stem from fear. We don?t really realize this until we start to bring an honest, mindful presence to why we do what we do and say what we say. This fear-based thinking can manifest on a very large scale?all the way down to the zillions of seemingly tiny thoughts and choices we make.
Our entire media & advertising culture is based on fear. Hitler?s regime was based on fear (prejudice is based in fear). These are examples of ?very large scale? permeations of false fears. And then there are the zillions of examples of the tiny permeations, such as?
Why did Mary say yes to hosting that social event when her life is already full, including parenting, working full-time, and caring for an aging parent? Because she fears how her ?no? would ripple out in community gossip. She fears that she will be judged poorly by this single action, instead of knowing that her character and integrity are the real gifts that she brings to her community.
I often hear folks talk about ?kicking fear to the curb? or ?feeling fear means you?re weak.? I respectfully disagree with both of these thoughts. Courage isn?t the absence of fear; it?s moving mindfully through the fear and/or acting in spite of it. And fear is absolutely primal, so we can?t kick it to the curb, nor does feeling it (knowingly or unknowingly) mean you?re weak; it?s simply a factual extension of being an animal (reminder: humans are part of the animal kingdom).
All emotions and feelings are valid and instructive, including fear. But fear can be a sneaky bugger, showing up in a variety of insidious ways that leave us unaware of how false fears are ruling our lives. And, as long as our fear lives in the shadows, hidden by shame or ignored out of our un-knowing, then it can?t be mindfully examined and released. And this, my friends, can not only make a mess of our psyche, our relationships, and our lives, but there is much scientific data that indicates that fear is one of the leading predisposing factors of disease in our culture. Boo-hiss.
Fears can be hard to face! Learning to work mindfully with fear takes courage on it?s own. But as we get better at it, we can begin to apply this courage to all aspects of our lives. We can begin to tease out the real reasons for our choices, and make mindful decisions from a place of grounded intention, instead of reacting due to false fears.
And, once you are more often making choices based on courage, and are flexing that courage muscle consistently, this allows you to bring so much more of authentic, awesome YOU to the table, every day. Maya Angelou said it well?.
Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can?t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.?~ Maya Angelou
You bet, Maya! If these thoughts resonate with you, and you decide that you want to start noticing and learning from your fears, remember that this doesn?t mean you?re ?broken? or ?need to be fixed.? You?re simply waking up to wanting to express more of the amazingness of YOU in this world, instead of the you that is shackled, shrouded, and controlled by fear. And THAT is a sweet deal!
Have a wonderful week.
With love & in honor of courage,
Laurie
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