My name is Jill, and I'm afraid of change. Well, at least I was. In two weeks, I will be moving 400 miles away from my current home.
We can choose to let fear be a noose around our neck, holding our breath through life. We can choose to hold onto what we believe we can control, saying no to experiences that may seem risky. We can choose to be satisfied, but less than passionate. Or we can choose to cut the cord.
One thing I've noticed is that fear is an all-too-common reason why my clients feel stuck in their lives and businesses -- fear of failure, success, judgement, making mistakes, putting themselves out there and becoming the person they know they're meant to be.
We are all holding one another in this life. We are all keeping each other safe; and we do have the power to do that, as we are taught again and again in this life.
The practice is to acknowledge our fear and embrace it rather than deny or run from it. To embrace our fear means we are making a conscious choice not to allow it to define who we are or what we can accomplish.
Taking yourself beyond your limits to reach new heights goes hand in hand with knowing your boundaries, having a vision and being honest about whether you're getting there. Leading yourself to new heights is an act of greatness.
Can we do something to reverse the fear epidemic? Yes, we have two choices: either to remain at the mercy of our fears or to take control of our fears. Choosing to manage our fears is far easier than you might think.
Fear is something we can't live without; it is a feeling we all experience at one time or another in our daily lives. I think as a society, we live with fear in the wrong way, and after many years, I'm ready to share the story of how I turned fear into a source of inner strength.
For the first time in my 30-plus years of teaching on a university campus, I was part of an evacuation that was not just a drill. Here are the keys to "CLICK" that I found myself using in order to stay calm as this emergency unfolded.
I have known people who make "Before I Turn 30" to-do lists. From what I can gather, some people feel that they have not accomplished what they thought they would by the time they got to their 30s. Fair enough, but is a to-do list really necessary? I decided to find out.
I decided to dip my toe back into the water... and belly-flopped instead. I had set myself up to fail because I had set unreasonable expectations in place.
What you are afraid of is never the thing that gets you, I want to explain to my daughter. So, don't live in fear.
Aurora, Tuscon, Newtown, and now Boston. In light of so many terrorizing incidences, from a psychological standpoint, it's normal -- and healthy -- to feel fear.
Like most Bostonians, I never dreamed that we would experience a day like this in Newton.
I spent much of Thursday night virtually holding my 21-year-old niece's hand -- and she mine. She was alone in her house in Newton, MA, across the Mass Pike from Waterbury, and she could hear the explosions and the sirens. "Is this normal?" she asked as we texted through the night. It is now. Over and over we learn -- that we can't protect our children, that we can't guarantee tomorrow, that we should treasure today because tomorrow a crazy police chase might lock down your neighborhood. That is something lost, yes, but it is also something found. This is not the first time we have been knocked off our feet, and we are not the first generation to pick ourselves back up. That is normal. It will take us a while. We'll mourn and grieve and recalibrate. And then... We'll get started.
Defying all odds, his left leg being nearly an inch shorter than his right and limping as he ran, Glenn Cunningham set all kinds of middle distance records in high school. At Kansas University he is remembered as being one of the university's all-time track greats.
Success comes in all forms, whether it be how you did on a test, a work project, closing a sale, losing weight, quitting smoking or another addicti...
"My partner and I have lobbied for the right to marry for six of the last nine years we've been together. Now it's completely legal in New York and we're over the moon about it. We decided to get married. Except now I'm feeling scared."
We have more than we've ever had and can do more than we ever thought. We can meet strangers across continents on devices in our pockets from the comfort of wherever we are. We can crowdsource with those same strangers to start a company or make a movie.
How can you learn to embrace risk for the sake of your future happiness, particularly when risk taking doesn't come to you naturally? When you think about making a change, focus only on what you have to gain, and banish all thoughts of what you might lose.
Even a small step in the right direction can have a snowball effect in bringing you closer to the joyful, purposeful life you are meant to live. I hope you will make that small step today!
In her new book "Lean In," Sheryl Sandberg notes the ways in which fear can hold women back and the importance of pushing through that fear. She write...
I've learned to separate my fears from my intuition and, at times, to follow my intuition through the fear. I've learned that love is a powerful antidote and can scare the demons back into the dark -- but according to Srinivasen S. Pillay, the main enemy of fear isn't love.
This fear of the doctor is quite normal, and also something you can overcome. Think about it: You're afraid to see the very people who know your body best and spent years learning about diseases and treatment.
Doing anything outside of our experience is a plunge, especially stepping into places that we resist or are fearful of. The added ingredient of meditation enables us to step beyond our boundaries and deepens the experience of inclusivity.
