Transcending Fear and Doubt

Any time we make a decision, especially one that involves inner changes, our own resistance shows up to try to deter us from taking action. It’s the inertial energy or the “ghost of the-way-things-were” before we made the decision to change or to move in a different direction. And it manifests as opposition from others, obstacles, delays, sudden life drama, or anything that seems to be “out of our control,” and clearly distracting us from what we’re supposed to do to follow through with our decision.

Perhaps you’ve heard yourself saying things like, “Maybe this is not what I should be doing,” or “This is much harder than I expected,” or the ultimate giving up excuse, “Oh, well, I guess it wasn’t meant to be.” Yet if you’d stop for a moment and allow yourself to feel the emotions that those obstacles, delays, or oppositions are trying to veil, you’d soon discover that they can usually be summed up as: fear and doubt.

Like most people, you probably believe that you react to what you perceive and then respond accordingly, as best as you can. So you think that things happen in this order: First there is an event, then your perception of it, followed by your response to it. To sum it up: Event + Perception = Response. In truth, your perception precedes everything else, and both the event and your response are just extensions and reflections of it. Let me use an analogy here.
Perception Is an Act

We all tend to think of lighting as coming from above and hitting the ground (remember Zeus sending his powerful lightning arrows to punish humans?), but in reality what we perceive as such unidirectional electrical discharge is usually the return stroke, and lightning can happen from ground to cloud (which is actually the most common), from cloud to ground, and of course, from cloud to cloud. In any case, for lightning to happen there has to be a connection between two charges.

Similarly, your perception of things—with your conscious and mostly unconscious beliefs, emotions, and tendencies—creates the event you experience, and then your response simply reinforces your original perception. There is no possible event without an “emotional charge” associated with it, and this charge arises from your perception and is reinforced by your perception. You are the one creating and you are the one perceiving the event, and not the other way around. It’s like you hook yourself with your own beliefs.

If you are making a decision that implies going against a strong belief within you, one with which you have identified through unconscious conditioning, your belief will manifest as an event or distraction to prevent you from following through with your decision and/or taking the necessary actions to bring it into reality.

Your mind can and will justify this event (the distraction) as a “sign” that you shouldn’t do this or that, but if you understand that your perception creates your reality through the senses, then it is clear that you are simply trying to prevent things from happening because it is safer to remain where you are instead of taking the risk of either failing or succeeding at what you want to do. Thus the “ghost of things-the-way-they-were” and the fear and doubt underlying all of it.
Take Full Responsibility and Take Charge

Only when you take full responsibility for your life, and assume that everything on the outside is a reflection of what’s inside you, will you be able to remove any resistance to your desires, dreams, and decisions. So here are a few simple guidelines to transcend fear and doubt:

1. See your fears and doubts for what they are. Stop giving them your power. Remember that fear and doubt are not truth; they’re a concoction of the mind to keep you where you are. As soon as you can recognize them, you should let them go, and move on.

2. Know your patterns and be prepared to overcome them. You may feel pulled down, held back, or paralyzed by different fears, doubts, circumstances, events, or “drama.” See them as the same old patterns that have held you back over and over, so you will identify them quicker next time they show up. Knowing your particular patterns, excuses, or stopping points is key to be able to recognize them before they can have an effect on your decisions.

3. Have a plan to transcend your obstacles. Once you identify your mental patterns, map out ahead of time what you’re going to do when they happen, so you can avoid getting sucked into them again. The more you do this, the less power they will have over you.

4. Look and listen for opportunities. When you make a decision to manifest a result or to reach a goal, be open and attentive to the opportunities that show up. They always do, but so do your fears and doubts! Expect and be ready to recognize the opportunity once you remove the mental patterns that may be trying to stop you.

5. Act swiftly and decisively. Once you are clear about your next step, take it! Delay is a huge block to manifestation because the longer it takes for you to take action, the greater the chances of your fear and doubt to creep in and stop you. Plus, the further you move on, the greater the energy and momentum you create, which places you beyond the “discomfort zone.”

© 2012 Yol Swan. All rights reserved.

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