If you have ever experienced doubt, worry, fear, stress, or anxiety then this article is for you. Basically if you're a human being living on planet earth then this article is for you.
Today I touched base with Andrew Pearce from Anxiety Free Living and what he shared really struck a chord. What really stood out was how his message related to overcoming one of life's greatest hurdles, self-doubt. Here's what he shared:
Fear breeds doubt and leads to worry, worry leads to stress and stress leads to anxiety. There's the incessant thinking that goes on with doubt; what are people thinking, what might go wrong, the "what ifs" that we so love to ask ourselves and others. Caught up in a whirlwind of thought and over-analyzing every little thing. Then there's the increased heart-rate, the sweats, the light headedness and the rest of it. Doubting can hold you back in your career, relationships and worst of all life itself. It doesn't really get us anywhere yet so many of us do it...
So why do we doubt so much and torment ourselves with worry?
It all starts with fear. Fear of what might go wrong, of rejection, of mistakes, of setbacks, of failure, of embarrassment, of loss. Fear can have a huge impact on the decisions we make, the opportunities we miss, the experiences we do and don't have and ultimately the life we live.
The big question with all of this fear is "can I handle it?" Can I handle the perceived consequences of the actions I'm about to take? Or not take.
~sidenote~ It is not the doing the we are fearful of it is the perceived consequences of the doing.
So how then do we go about letting go of fear and become present and engaged?
We choose trust and love instead of fear and doubt. And the awesome thing is that it is a choice, you can start to choose trust now, today! Because you are currently choosing to doubt, so why not choose to trust...?
There is a learning that can be taken away from everything. Every mistake, every rejection, every loss, every setback, every bit of suffering, there is ALWAYS a learning.
Every bit of suffering is a gift from the universe moving you towards the best version of yourself you can be.
When you choose to trust in yourself and in the universe you live with confidence, happiness, joy, excitement, love and the rest of it. You live with presence because you're not caught up in the mind worrying about what may or may not go wrong. You try new things because you're not trying to avoid making mistakes. You put yourself out there because you're not worrying about rejection. You live life in flow because you know it's all a part of the process.
With trust there is no losing, you either win or you learn.
So start trusting that;
The mistakes are teaching you what you need to learn,
The setbacks are making you stronger,
The rejections are pointing you towards something better,
The losses are helping you to let go,
And that life, the universe, whatever you want to call it... is on your side.
Andrew Pearce - http://www.anxietyfreeliving.com.au/