FEAR BRINGS FREEDOM!

Courage is not the absence of Fear;
it's taking Action in the face of it.
-Sarah, "I'll be home for Christmas"
(made for TV movie)

My cousin, Jeannette once said to me, "I know that when I am in Fear, I don't have enough Knowledge." And while this was an off-the-cuff conversation, her words have stayed with me for over a decade.When I am in fear, I need more Knowledge.

And then there's the person who beats up on himself and says, "but I've read enough cookbooks, it's time for me to get out there and make something happen."

So which is it?

First let me say, I don't believe you can ever read too many "cookbooks" on managing your life in a most powerful and joy-filled way. The mind is a lot like the stomach! It seems to empty out 3 or more times a day. We replenish it with more food. We need to replenish our minds as well. Much of what I read on a daily basis, I already know. I've read it many times before. But the "remembering" is what gives me the courage to be responsible toward my life -the life I'm managing and creating as I go.

Responsibility means having the ability to respond,
not only to other's needs, but to your own.

Maybe the key words here are: Respond and You. How are you responding to your life and what do you need, want, desire?

Most of us believe that even if we did decide how we'd like it to be, it would be a complete waste of time, because we can't have what we want anyway. Therefore we try to Respond with Indifference. Trying to convince ourselves that what we really want doesn't matter.

This directly affects our ability to communicate. We are not taken seriously from this place of powerlessness. If we are to Make Things Happen in our world, we must bring the internal RESOLVE that what we want IS important, and DOES deserve consideration. And you know what I'm talking about!

Look back over your life, and remember ALL the Times you Really Really Really desired something... The times when the desire was so great that it simply would not leave you alone... remember? You made it happen. One way or another, you somehow didn't give up. Question: Why didn't you give up? Answer: It wouldn't leave you alone!

If something is not leaving you alone, then it simply
means... Find a better way... an easier way.

A Better Way? Fear rears its ugly head at us and says, "BUT, there's not a better/easier way. Everybody knows that this desire that I have is Impossible... " And so we try to convince ourselves that it's impossible, hopeless... Because everybody says so! Right?

Understand this It has nothing to do with whether or not it "appears" in this moment to be possible That's your job. To find a way to make it possible. That's the deal. We are the managers of our lives. We have the authority to get deliberate about our lives, or to give our lives away to others. Which do you prefer?

We tend to give up our own responsibility to the FEAR of some entity, company or thing... trying to force ourselves to accept that we have little or no control over our own ability to make things happen in this world.

When I am in fear, I need more Knowledge.

The next question is: What knowledge do you seek? Do you seek more of the same? Negative people/associates/friends, books, literature, internet documentation, research that supports that what you want is "impossible"!

Or, are you willing to be so HEAD STRONG that you keep looking until you find someone somewhere who has what it is you want!

Take a look at the newsstands regarding the best new diet. They are inundated during the spring and summer seasons with Magazines on what works and what doesn't. How do you know? What do you believe?

Whatever you want!

How do you want it to be? Would you like for it to be easier?
Then seek that knowledge.

If you are in sales. You've been told that for every 100 approaches you'll be able to sign a very small percentage. Maybe 1 out of 100? Well, that cheers me on! Would it make more sense to "create" or "define" a high target market that will increase those percentages 100%? That would take NEW knowledge... a NEW way of marketing &/or selling. How about Knowledge on How To Get The Phone To Ring?

Fear says: "But everybody does it this way... "
The question is: Does it work for you?

Do you have "communication issues" at the office? You've been told that the people with which the difficulty occurs will NEVER CHANGE. Is this the knowledge you want? Is it the confirmation you seek? Is it how you want it to be? Then what knowledge will you then choose to seek? Knowledge that supports your desire for change, knowledge that supports a new way of speaking... Knowledge that honors every individual's right to be if they choose for the sake of your growth! So, the correct question is: "Will you Change?" Maybe, it is a change for you to ask this person to change! Think about that! Have you ever done that... or just implied it? There is a difference. And the results you are getting are directly related to the Information you are communicating with.

"When viewed correctly, fear can be reinterpreted as our
mind's invitation for us to rise to a higher level of Freedom.
We are not being called to run away from danger,
but toward Safety. And there is a world of difference
between these two directions."
-Gerald G. Jampolsky, MD, Teach Only Love

What this all boils down to is this...

What is the Freedom You Seek?

DESIRES are more powerful than old paradigms... Deliberate and definitive DESIRE is the difference between wishing for something and being ready to receive it.

Now back to answering our first person's concern, "but I've read enough cookbooks, I should be getting out there and making something happen."

Set your DESIRE first, and then your course to
Make Things Happen.

 

Get a Plan. Back that plan by taking in new knowledge everyday that SUPPORTS how you'd like it to be. There is a way. You simply have not created it from your present knowledge base.

And remember this... Knowledge can come from infinite sources and resources. It can come from anything in your environment that your attention is suddenly drawn to; like somebody's license plate as you are travelling down the freeway asking for a "sign." It can come from books, internet, television. It can come from seeking out people who are experiencing life joyously· deliberately. It can come from meditation. And, it can come from simply making up your mind that it be different or better.

To move to higher levels of Freedom, you must be RIGOROUS in putting your ATTENTION on new knowledge, because fear will come, again and again and again. You must continuously go TOWARD the safety you seek, being disciplined with yourself and thinking only of how you'd like it to be. Ultimately you WILL replace fear with the Actions you now have the courage to take as a result of the Knowledge you've elected to seek, reach for and give your attention to.

Finally, ask yourself:

"What is it I need to change about me,
in order to obtain what I desire?"

Maybe the only change you need to make, is simply deciding differently... to "suppose" that it could be easier than what you've understood up to this point.

And Please Know-YOU ARE A SUCCESS!

 

©2001 Mary Robinson Reynolds, Heart Productions & Publishing

Mary Robinson Reynolds, M.S., Educational Psychologist, Author and Producer of the world renowned Internet videos, MakeADifferenceMovie.com and AcknowledgmentMovie.com - both amassing over 10 million views within a few short months of their releases - spent many years as a classroom teacher K-8 and then as a counselor K-12. She parlayed her phenomenal success with youth at-risk into her programs for business leaders, entrepreneurs and managers on how to be energetically effective in leading improvement in their organizations through the power of Team Synergy and MasterMinding. She has written eight books, developed UTrain&Coach programs that anyone can take into their place of work to build organization wide Team Synergy, and has presented to over 20,000 people in two year period in every major city in the U.S. To learn more go to: maryreynolds.com Feel free to quote portions of this or any other previously published article. We ask that you give Mary Robinson Reynolds credit, with contact information such as her website address / contact page. And please let us know of the dates, what you use, and where it is to be published. For re-publication of an entire article, written permission is required. Thank you for the opportunity to be of service. The following paragraph is the "standard" biographical reference that may be included when reprinting any of these articles:

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