Steve and I have been talking a lot about what it is to live in fear. Talking about what it’s like to go through everyday more worried about maintaining what we have in the world we have created for ourselves, rather that opening ourselves up to the world that’s full of possibility. When we’re more worried about maintaining the status quo in our lives, rather that growing and exposing ourselves to possibility, we run the risk of shutting off our creativity and our ability to express our authentic selves. I recently read a passage by Jane Roberts that states, “You are here [on earth] to expand your consciousness to learn ways of creativity as directed through conscious thought.” When we let negative and fearful thoughts govern our lives, we may miss the chance to fully explore our creative forces that make life full.
Fear is just a frame of mind. We don’t have to live in fear. We can turn it off in a moment, but the longer we live in that mindset, the harder it is to turn off. Turning it off just requires 1) the awareness that we have fear in our lives, 2) faith in ourselves to transcend the fear, and 3) a supportive and inspiring community.
Fear isn’t all together bad. A little fear is good and can spur personal growth. Everybody gets nervous to perform in front of others, but when we do it, it’s exhilarating and gives us confidence that we build upon for the next time. However, if we do not meet this fear with enthusiasm, we may turn it into a more negative and insidious type of fear that can govern our lives. If we don’t rise up and meet our fear, over time we sink down into our comfort zones and begin to be fearful about losing the comfortable little worlds we create for ourselves. I think a good question to ask ourselves to see where we stand is, “Am I meeting my full potential?”
It is our mission in life to continuously grow and access our innate creativity. Accessing and expressing our authentic creativity is essential to pursuing our potential as people. We’re all creative in different ways. Some of us are artistic and musical. Some of us implement our creativity in business. Some of us implement our creativity through teaching or philanthropy. It doesn’t matter where or how we express our creativity or potential, we just have to do it! No sitting around. No letting people tell us we can’t do something. We need to have faith in ourselves that when we express our authentic selves and our authentic creativity, the world of possibility will open up and provide for us. No more fear.
It takes courage to break the chains we have created for ourselves over the years, but because we have created these chains ourselves, we are the only ones that can break them! It is difficult to break away from the fear that inhibits our potential, so it is essential to surround ourselves with positive and supportive people, to support and inspire us. Sometimes if we are fearful and not feeling good about ourselves, we withdraw from people that push us and inspire us. But we need to seek these people out and hang with them. Their energy is contagious and over time it will help us and inspire us to reach our full potential.
Pete Arbuckle