What’s your biggest fear? How do you overcome and heal it? Why would you even want to know what it is?

 

Many times people do not know what their biggest fears are. They go through life thinking either they are not scared of anything or they shy away form know what it is. Some people seem to be fearless in certain areas of life. I know people who are adrenalin junkies and seem fearless because they are constantly putting themselves in danger.

They do stunt after stunt and love the rush they get when they may get hurt. There are others who are fearless when it comes to business. They can take risks and chances, they are not afraid of hard work or failure. They are not afraid of success. Still others are fearless when it comes to relationships. They put themselves out there and take chances and put their hearts 100% into it taking a chance on it, seeing if it will work. They are possibly the bravest of all.

 

The point is that we all have areas of life where we are fearless and other areas where we have fear. One person may be completely fearless when it comes to physical danger, yet be totally afraid to take risks in love. Another may believe love is worth the risk, but be so afraid of failure they do not go after their dream job. There is not a person who is completely fearless in every area of his or her life unless they have attained self-mastery.

 

No matter who you are, there are always going to be fears that come up because anytime you do something new, or something you are not sure you can do, there is fear. It is just a matter of recognizing that when fear comes up, it is an opportunity to grow. It is the discomfort zone, which is a place we should all tap into at least once a day.  I love what Neale Donald Walsh (Conversations with God) said about discomfort. He said that anytime we walk away from our discomfort and go back to our comfort zone, we walk away from our greatness. Looking back on my own experience, I couldn’t agree more. It was the times of pushing through my greatest fear and discomfort that I could honestly see what I was made of. And what I was made of blew my mind.

 

This is why it is important to find your fears if you don’t already know what they are. I don’t mean to state the obvious, such as I’m afraid of getting hurt, or I’m afraid of poverty. I mean the underlying fears. I mean the fears that are so fearful to even acknowledge that you are not even aware of them. How do you find them if you are not aware of them?

 

First, recognize that there are universal fears, such as fear of surrender, fear of abandonment and fear of not being good enough. These are the fears that lie beneath the surface fears. Start with these and go inside and ask your self, what is it you are afraid of? Do not ask yourself IF you fear anything, but WHAT you fear. Do not let your language to yourself sway your answer. Make a list of any and all things that you think you may fear if you are not sure. Sit with yourself until you sift through all the surface answers and get to the truth of you. It should make you cry when you realize it because you will automatically know that it is the very thing that holds you back from living fully, powerfully and joyously, and receiving all the prosperity you desire.

 

I asked a friend the other day, what was his greatest fear.  At first he said, he didn’t have any fears, and then he said that he didn’t know what they were. After that he said it is probably fear of self-work, of finding out what was inside of himself. That is why he keeps himself so busy with hobbies so he never has a moment to just BE, to think about his life, or what he actually wants out of life. Even that answer is not really a fear. It basically means he is afraid of finding out what he is afraid of. Underneath that there is another underlying fear that is responsible for how he lives his life, the choices he makes and how happy he can be.

 

He sat down and went inside. He pushed aside all the obvious ones and found that he felt inferior and inadequate most of the time. His feelings of inferiority show up everywhere in his life; his choice of work and his relationships. His feelings of inadequacy shadow his fear of failure. He is so afraid of failing that he can’t really live. He cannot make a move toward something that he wants, for fear he may not get it, so he chooses not to feel that he wants it. He chooses not to know that he wants anything.  He is so afraid of failing he will not succeed at anything that is important to him. He will succeed at everything that is not important to him…. and he does. But he is not happy.

 

If you don’t find that thing you fear the most, you will not find your greatness. It doesn’t mean you wont do great things, just that you would be capable of so much more, and you know it. Finding your fear is a lot like finding your purpose because without the awareness you may not know why you make the choices that you make. It runs your life without you realizing it. It is responsible for your choices and your dissatisfaction if you let it. You can spend a lifetime not looking at it but it will shadow you until you turn around, shine the light on it and face it. Then it magically goes away as if it never existed and the only thing left in it’s place is your mind blowing greatness.