Fear is an opportunity to change your mind.

At the first moment you feel fear, envisioning an upcoming challenge, or something that would be out of your comfort zone, for instance… your mind wants to turn and look at the possibilities for what could go wrong.

In that moment, you have another option, and it is to ask ‘what if?’ in a positive way.

It’s a basic reframe, and a chance to exercise creativity and self-empowerment. Truly, what’s possible for me now? What’s good that’s possible? – not probable – possible. Decide to hold your doubt, and just imagine.

Then… move towards the positive vision. Let it guide your actions. It’s much more playful and inspired than moving forward while you hold fearful images in your mind. In fact, we are more likely to harm ourselves when we act from that place of fear or doubt. We’re less likely to find flow. Life has to break through more resistance to get to us.

Why not make it easier for the good to come find you? It comes to you when you call it in your mind’s eye, when you feel the magic, sparkly feeling of possibility.

So fear is something to court, and to adore, my friends. When fear shows its face, magic is right around the corner. When fear looks at us we always have our choice to look away, or look back. When we look away we feel the gaze of fear, and it haunts us until we feel so small and scared we can’t move. When we look toward it, real life happens at the place where our gazes meet. We can carve the path ahead of us with our vision and will; we make art, and speak our mind, and are free. Fear makes us stronger in being who we are. Fear makes life more tense, more beautiful, more sweet.

It is good to be in real relationship with fear, to visit it every day. The less we sit with it, the more we forget ourselves when we do. Fear overwhelms us when we don’t stand up squarely to meet it. In this way, it asks us for nothing less than our full selves. When we are invited we must muster the will to say yes and show up.

Make a habit of facing fear instead of running from it. Make friends with fear, and you’ll find friendship where others find walls. You’ll find flow where others are stuck and weak. Make friends with the thing others run from, and life will share her deeper secrets and gifts with you. It pays to go where no one else will go. Join me…